The Supremacy Wars
by NightSonata
Summary: All Fay ever wanted was to make it to the X Games. Too bad everyone else has different plans for her. Factions are suddenly after her for a power she just found out she has, and to make it worse, the Guardian of her dimension decides to kicks her out.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One: Destiny**_

Obviously there are some things that shouldn't be done, but what was the harm?

It was the night of the fourth of July. People would be out in the streets.

So Fayre, or Fay as her friends called her, thought it safe enough to go skating down the river park trail that night. It wasn't like she was looking for trouble, and trouble always decided to give her a wide berth. This meant that her life was peaceful enough, although like many sixteen year olds she had her troubles, but nothing out of the ordinary and Fay didn't expect today to be any different.

Sure her Mom and Dad would get a little upset about her being out at night on her own but she could handle them. With that thought in mind she arrived at the park, starting down the trail only…she saw something she wasn't expecting to see.

Fay stopped as she neared the figure. "Hey, is everything okay?" she asked, voice uncertain.

In the middle of the bike trail stood a girl, long blond hair cascading around her as she hunched over, her hands in her hair. Wild hazel eyes peered at Fay through blond hair. "It won't go away!" the girl shrieked.

Fay took a step back, or rolled slightly back since she was still wearing her skates.

"What won't go away?" Fay asked carefully. The girl shook her head, hazel eyes vanishing behind the blond curtain of hair.

"I can't take it!" She screamed, pulling at her hair. Fay gasped, rolling forward. "Stop it! Your hair!"

The girl had pulled so hard that her hand had come away with long golden strands.

The older girl collapsed to the ground with another shriek, her body tensed then convulsed.

"Get away! Get away! I never wanted you in the first place!" As the girl shouted this, fireworks began to light up the night sky.

"It's okay, I'll call an ambulance and they'll be able to help, just wait okay." Fayre tried to sound soothing as with trembling fingers she reached for her cell phone, but froze at the sound of crazed laughter spilling from the older girl.

She lifted her face up and Fay gasped.

The girl had been biting her lips and now they were torn, blood seeped from the tears to run down her throat. "They can't help me," She spat, a crazed edge to her voice. "No stupid normal humans could help me, not unless…"

The older girl suddenly turned to Fay, the crazed light in her eyes clearing for the first time. "You, when we're you born; the month and day?"

Fay gave the girl a strange look but since she didn't see the harm she told her. "October first."

Faster than Fay thought possible, the older girl stood up, gripping Fay by the forearms with surprising strength.

"Hey that hurts!" Fay winced in pain, trying to tug herself free from the girl.

"**Balance of the stars: let what chose me be now yours!"**

'What the hell!' Fay thought, trying to tug herself free once more but the girl's grip was impossible to break. "Hey, look, whatever you're on I'm sure we can get you some hel-" She trailed of in surprise as suddenly light glimmered not from the fireworks lighting the sky, but from beneath them.

Fay jerked her gaze downward, watching as the light that had appeared beneath both of them grew into a circle of sky blue light; symbols Fay had never seen before adorned the circle from within.

**"So let it be."**The girl spoke again.

"Let go!" Fay was now panicking but the girl's grip was unbreakable and Fay felt herself lifted while a golden aura flared around the girl then rushed into Fay, blinding her momentarily.

Fay closed her eyes, stiffening when she felt her whole body burning, as if she'd been plunged into too hot water, then the feeling vanished and her skates touched the ground.

She fell back as the girl released her, wide frightened eyes staring up at the blonde girl. "What the…what just happened?" she asked in a half whisper.

The older girl smiled down at her, her whole demeanor relieved and relaxed. "Thank you, thank you so much for finding me." Then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

'Psycho.' Was all Fay could think of the girl. She didn't know what the special effects were and where they came from but she didn't care, she just wanted to get out of here, now.

Fay stood up, intent on leaving but then glanced at the unconscious girl. After a few seconds of hesitation she gave in. 'I can't just leave her.' She reached for her cell phone once more, dialing emergency; ten minutes later the cops and an ambulance arrived.

While the paramedics saw to the girl one of the cops questioned her. Fay simply told them that she'd seen the girl collapse. She didn't think they'd believe the rest, and if she told them she'd probably end up in a mental hospital.

No way was that happening to her.

"Is she going to be okay?" Fay asked glancing past the officer to the girl that was now being placed in the ambulance.

"Except for her lips she doesn't look like she's been wounded. I'm sure she'll be fine." The officer assured her. Fay nodded, turning back to him. "Can I go home now? I'm late."

In the end she was given a ride back home where, after being hugged and assuring her parents she was fine, she had to listen to a half hour lecture on being out so late; however when she started yawning her parents had mercy on her and sent her up to bed.

Fay yawned, dragging herself up the stairs and down the hall to her room. 'Man that was weird.' She thought, thinking back at what had happened. Whatever that had been, it was as much weirdness as she wanted to encounter in her lifetime.

She closed the door of her room behind her, then walked across to the window she'd left open. Fay reached for the pane but paused as she spotted someone. 'What the…' Narrowing her eyes, she concentrated on the figure behind her mom's rosebushes. Yes, there was definitely someone there. Without much thought she opened her mouth.

"Hey pervert! I'm giving you to the count of three before I call the cops!" Fay had the feeling that the man narrowed his eyes at her words, then was gone. She blinked. 'Wait…how…how did he do that?'

"Fay is something wrong?" Her mother called from the stairs. "No mom! I just thought I saw something!" Fay shouted back.

'Freaky end to an otherwise lovely day,' she closed the window and pulled down the drapes. 'So glad it's over.'

**Fay didn't have anything against dreams. Except when they got scary and made no sense, and also made you wish you hadn't eaten that last taco because you knew something like this would happen.**

**Fay found herself in a garden, in her pajamas. 'If I have to be outside I could at least have something nicer on.' The wet grass was making her feet cold; she didn't pay attention to the fact that in dreams you usually don't feel cold.**

"**So what's up?" Fay asked the blond girl, as if they'd done before. The other girl sat on a lawn chair, a small black cat in her arms. She looked calmer, happier.**

**The girl looked up at Fay and smiled. "You're very calm for someone who has no idea what's going on." **

**Fay shrugged. "I'm sure I'll start freaking out sometime later, but this is just a dream."**

**The girl's smile warmed. "You're right, this is just a dream."**

**Another lawn chair appeared and the girl motioned for Fay to sit.**

**She did so, lifting her feet up from the ground.**

"**My name is Camille, and you're Fayre." Fay nodded, waiting for Camille to explain, because the older girl had a lot to explain.**

"**Do you ever wonder,' the girl began at length, 'If we're truly alone in the universe, and if perhaps, humans as a race feel so superior that they believe that none but humans inhabit this place called earth, barring animals of course."**

'**Of course.' Fay thought dryly. If this turned into some Dracula, Mars Attacks, or even worse, Twilight flick explanation, heads would roll, preferably those of movie directors. "Well I guess I think about it. Not a lot though, but let's face it, no one's found any trace of life in space. As for on earth,' Fay shrugged. "If there were anything other than humans living here then I guess someone decided to make them extinct." She hesitated then asked. "You mean like vampires and stuff?"**

**Camille chuckled, nodding. "Yes, exactly like that and this might sound corny but," Camille leaned forward and whispered. "We truly are not alone; and they aren't extinct. They've just decided its best the humans don't know about them."**

**Fay scratched her cheek, her expression obviously doubtful.**

"**You don't have to believe me; however I will tell you what I know."**

**Camille closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts before she began. "I was born different. How exactly no one was ever able to tell me; I looked like all the other humans, I was in fact human, but there was still something different. When I was eight I found out what." She opened her eyes, staring straight at Fay but her gaze had a faraway look to it. **

**"He came to me where I was staying. You see I'm an orphan and I was staying at a shelter. He found me there and he told me….**

_**Flashback**_

**Eight year old Camille looked up at the old man with the long beard. At first she had thought that maybe Santa Claus had come early, but this man wasn't round like Santa Claus and he was wearing a black business suit, not a red one.**

**Slowly she sat at the small table directly across him. "They said you wanted to talk to me?" was the hesitant question.**

**No one ever wanted to talk to her and she didn't know why, she'd love to have friends but people always seemed to dislike her for some reason. Shyly she looked up at him through her bangs. The old man looked back at her with kindly grey, sad eyes.**

"**I had hoped I was wrong, but it seems I'm not." He said after a few more moments of silence. Then he did something strange; he spoke a word and the room they were in lit up momentarily with sky blue light. "That should give us some privacy." Camille swallowed. "What for?" she asked.**

**Whenever people took her aside it was to insult her or try to beat her up, mostly the later, although she didn't think this old man would do that she was wary of him nonetheless. "There is a tale I must tell you, information you must know."**

**Camille relaxed slightly. "Is it about my past?" she asked hopefully. **

**The man looked out the window. "Yes, it is about your past and your future, but I'm afraid, not in the way you would think it."**

**Camille's shoulders fell. "Oh." Was her quiet, disappointed reply.**

**The man watched her with those kind eyes before beginning. "There have been great men throughout history. Many known as conquerors, great rulers, and even some who have been known as dictators.**

**For example the one known as Alexander the Great and even before him a woman by the name of Cleopatra; you have heard of them, correct?" **

**Camille nodded.**

**The man continued. "They had one thing in common, one thing that no one knew about; yes they are spoken in history as rulers in their own time and each one great, but there was something that they did know, that not many knew." He paused, his eyes on some distant memory, before he turned to her. "They had something known as the Supremacy Right. Where it came from no one knows, but legend says that the very first creators of this world, of all worlds, forged it and threw it down to earth to cause havoc among those that lived here; and surely it did just that.**

**"For centuries it has been fought over in a secret war, and whoever gains control of it does great things, rises to power, although whether they do good or bad is up to them, but history never forgets them and so they live on in memory; but they have also fallen and this has happened because they became unworthy of wielding the Supremacy Right. If they gained it as a sword and then dropped it in combat they would no longer be worthy, in one instance it was picked up by another, a common unworthy soldier.**

**"Angry, the Right caused a wound to its former wielder that killed him over time." He placed a quarter, or what looked like one, on the table and slid it to Camille. **

**She hesitated before slowly picking it up and examining it. "Alexander….the Great?" she asked uncertain. **

**The man nodded. "Yes, he wielded the Right as a sword then dropped it. He probably would have gone on to conquer more territory had it not been for his dropping the Right, but he did and so the Right vanished from history until once more it was picked up by another, and so time continued; great men held it and rose to fame. By the time of the second world war, the wars that by then had become known as the Supremacy Wars to those who knew of it, had come to an end sometime ago when an unlikely man picked up the Right, this time in the form of a gun. He rose to power, as they all did and committed heinous acts against humanity. The Right may not be a person in the way we think of one but it is an entity. This entity soon grew to feel enmity towards this man and retreated its favor from him, but stayed to become the instrument of his death."**

**Wide eyed Camille listened to the story, her attention completely absorbed by the tale.**

"**So…what…what happened?" she asked.**

"**That's just it,' the man continued "After the death of this man the Right vanished. Many searched for it, those who wished for its power, in hopes of becoming worthy of it. Over the centuries factions rose, all united in seeking the power of this artifact known as the Right, yet at the same time separate in their need to gain it for themselves. Beings calling themselves Demons, yet they belong to this world not, they belong to another. Werewolves, those calling themselves the Malaika, Vampires. All these beings seek the power the Right possesses because they know that their dreams will come true when they gain control of it. However the Right vanished a long time ago. Although they've all searched, none has found it. I myself have been seeking it, but not to use it, only to guard it, such an item cannot be destroyed, and so it must be guarded; and at last I have found it, or her." His faraway gaze settled on her.**

"**But…I don't have a weapon or anything that might be that." Camille said.**

**What Camille was thinking was that this man was completely crazy and she should be running out of the room for her life, however something stopped her, it's as if she somehow knew, in her soul, that this man was telling the truth.**

"**The Right has reappeared, it is not yet fully awake or complete, it is only luck that brought me to the location, and it may still take a few years but it will awaken, and when it does everyone will know, and trust me when I say that this time the Factions will not stand for a mortal claiming something they have fought over for so many centuries."**

**Camille shook her head. "I don't understand, what has all this got to do with me?**

**The man smiled sadly. "You see, the Right has decided to come back in a form that will give it what it wishes, experience in human life; love, sadness, laughter. All this things for a long time it has sought to truly feel, and so it has finally accomplished what it, or perhaps now we should say; she wishes."**

**Camille watched as the man stood and extended a hand to her. "My name is Merlin the Magician, yes that one,' he said at Camille's widening eyes.**

"**I seek to safeguard you, because you see, the Right is indeed, your soul."**

**And so Camille had found out why exactly she had been so different.**

_**End Flashback**_

"**Since that day my life changed. I thought it was for the better. I was told that one day I would have great powers and that this time I could choose.**

**"I was the Right, but the one thing I could not do was to grant myself the ability to be what everyone seeks, to become like those great men of the past. That power, I was told, could only be given to another, the one I chose. I was taught many things and I couldn't wait for my powers to awaken, and one day three months ago they finally did."**

**Camille looked up at Fay, her eyes filled with tears. "And I also found that I could not wield that power, I could not! It burned my insides, it hurt so badly I screamed and screamed!" **

**Her voice was choked by pain she could still so clearly remember having to deal with, she turned her head away, her trembling hand absently petting the black cat, who purred as if to encourage and comfort her. "Merlin and the others did their best to seal my powers but they could only do it for so long."**

**Tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I had such a bright future. I had a scholarship to the college of my choice, the life I wanted, people had actually begun to speak to me. I had friends."**

**She lifted her palms to cover her face although Fay could hear her sobs, see the tears she tried to contain escape past her palms. "I thought to myself; I don't mind a normal life, this is what I want, to be like many others, but….but it wasn't meant to be."**

**She uncovered her face, staring at Fay who watched her, unsure of what to do and a little uncomfortable with the situation. **

**"It began to get worse and worse. One day I overheard the Wizards talking. One of them mentioned a spell, a spell that would render my soul my own and not the Rights' since I was truly not that being. However it meant passing the Right, and therefore re-making someone else's soul into the Right's, making them that which caused me so much pain. I thought, I can't do that, it would hurt them. And so I ran, I ran as far and fast as I could. Two days later I found myself in that park, the one where we met. I could feel it; the power rising within me, and I knew I was in my last moments of life."**

**She closed her eyes and sighted, then once more opened them and stared directly at Fay, something that made her feel just a little…well no, a hell lot more uncomfortable. "I was at my wits end; hanging to my sanity by a thread. You see I wasn't born under the right star or the right time. It was a mistake that the Right merged with me, it should have been someone else, someone born under the right star; and so desperate and beyond caring I gambled. I used the spell, hoping that the Right knew its mistake and wanted to spare me, hoping that it had called its other half, its true half."**

**Until now Camille had been tensed and distressed, now she relaxed, sighting in contentment. "And it did." Her eyes warmed and her smile could almost be called radiant as she looked at Fay. "It called you to me so that it may right its wrong,' she giggled,"No pun intended. I could feel it, the moment I looked at you. It was as if the power within me was reaching for you, but I had to be sure, that's why I asked your birth month and day." Camille stood, the small cat cuddled in her arms.**

"**The only reason I wasn't killed when the powers granted to me by the Right began to awaken was because it wasn't whole, but now it, no, she is, and so the time will soon come when they will all know that you've finally resurfaced."**

**Fay shot to her feet, shaking her head. "No way am I some sort of magical item! Look at me!" she exclaimed, a hand over her chest.**"**I'm just a normal fifteen year old who almost got grounded! I'm not any magical item or being! I don't hold the soul of some weird trouble making...thing!"**

**Camille's eyes filled with compassion.**

"**You don't simply hold the soul, Fay, you are mind, heart, body and soul: The Supremacy Right."**

"**No!" Fay denied heatedly. "I'm normal! Just like you've wanted to be normal! I never asked to be anything but myself."**

"**That's right, and you see, you finally are yourself." Camille said quietly. "I'm sorry for what my actions will cause you, but even if I don't remember you, know that I am forever grateful to you, for your presence last night. And please be careful, the Wizards are trustworthy; they will safeguard you. However the other factions have something else in mind. Do not let any of them try to fool you. Do not try to contact me; all my memories of this will be gone, and so I bid you farewell." With that Camille faded away.**

"**Get back here!" Fay shouted, stomping a foot. "I'm not done with you yet! I don't want this power so come back and take it! Hey! Hey where did you go Camille!"**

**Fay's voice echoed around her before it suddenly turned into a loud beeping noise close to her ear.**

_**End Dream**_

Fay woke with a start, slamming her palm over the 'off' button of her alarm. She yawned, sleepily looking around. 'It's Sunday, why'd the stupid alarm have to go off.' She collapsed back into bed. 'Man where do I get the inspiration for these dreams?' She groaned, covering her head with the blanket. 'I'll never watch another fantasy movie again.' With a sleepy yawn she went back to sleep, and this time no dreams disturbed her.


	2. Chapter 2: Beginnings

**Chapter 2: Beginnings**

"Fay, wake up! Fay wake up!" Fay groaned, swatting at the small hand. "I don't want too." She muttered sleepily. There was sudden movement from the right side of the bed, then it began to bounce with the two bodies jumping on it. "Fay, Wake up!"

Fay sat up, swatting at them with her pillow. "Get your bodies of my bed!"

The ones responsible for her rude awakening, her younger brother and sister, the youngest pair of twins; paid no attention to her and continued jumping. "You won't wake up and mom says you have to!" Michelle said jumping away as Fay tried to snatch her arm. "Fine I'm awake, now get out!" she snapped, grabbing for her brother.

With a gleeful shriek both jumped of the bed, making a thudding sound as they landed and rushed out the door.

"Brats!" Fay called after them, a small hint of affection in her voice, very small. 'One of these days…' she promised silently. 'You'll get what's coming to you.' Whatever that was. She closed the door behind her and stretched. 'What to do today…' she pondered as she made her way to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later she descended, ready for breakfast, to find a covered plate and a note next to it waiting for her.

'Took the kids to the park, your Dad was called into work. Your brothers left their books behind; they should be at the library, be a dear and go give it to them.'

Thanks, Mom.

'Sure make me do all the work.' Not that it would be that hard. The library wasn't that far away from where they lived, just as the college wasn't all that far away either. Fay finished eating, picked up the heavy books of the table books and made her way out of the house. 'When did I suddenly turn into everyone's servant?' She grumbled to herself.

Fay knew that this wasn't what was truly bugging her. It was that stupid dream. She'd thought of going to the hospital and looking in on the girl, she couldn't really be Camille could she? But every time her words came back to haunt her; all her words. Fay

shook her head as she walked down the street. 'No, there's no such thing as vampires or Dragons; they're all just make believe and I had a really weird dream yesterday, nothing more and nothing less.' Although at the moment she wished it had been less.

Trying to keep her mind from the dream, Fay examined shop windows, paid close attention to where she was going, so much so that she almost missed the turn to the library. 'Stupid.' She thought, crossing the street.

Finally arriving at the library she went in only to have those alarms go of, annoyed at the sound she waited until one of the security guards paid attention to her, and when he motioned for her to go in, Fay nodded and walked to the elevator. 'If I know them they'll probably be on the fifth floor.' One of the rooms was usually reserved for their study time, even if they weren't studying, so it was fairly easy to make her way there.

She found Ryan there…sleeping. His somewhat longish brown hair a little mussed up. "Nice to see you're working hard, or maybe it's hardly working."

Fay loudly plopped down the two large books on the table besides him.

He jumped awake, narrowing his blue eyes in a glare when he saw her. "I was just resting my eyes, the others aren't here yet."

"Riiiiight." She drawled. "Next time try not to leave your stuff at home because I'm not bringing it again." Hands on hips she scolded him. His glare vanished and suddenly he was smiling. "You wouldn't abandon us in our time of need, would you?"

Fay snorted. "Yeah, I would." She knew he was trying to coax her out of her annoyed state. She couldn't count the times they'd called home saying they'd forgotten something, and it was always her who ended up having to bring it to them. Cell phone, lunch, money, books. She was so putting her foot down, but before she could continue her tirade the door to the study room opened and one of his friends came in.

Fay was very proud of the fact that she didn't start drooling, not one bit. She just stared, wide eyed, a lot like a geek she'd later think, at the guy.

He was tall, towering over her mere four feet eight inches. As she looked up at him, she thought that perhaps he was about six feet tall. He was lean yet not lanky, and had broad shoulders. His hair seemed to waver between a slightly lighter shade of blue and true black, it fell down a little past his neck and his bangs half covered his eyes; and that's what truly got her attention. His eyes could only be described as a mix of turquoise and sea green.

"Who's this?" he asked with a slight New York accent; his laughing eyes telling her that yes, he did have that affect on most things female, and sometimes those that weren't. Fay mentally shook herself out of her gawking state as her brother introduced her.

"My sister, Fayre although we mostly call her Fay, Fay, this is Astor Drakon."

'That's a first.' Fay thought. She'd never met anyone with a name like that. "Nice to meet you." Fay said, offering her hand.

He shook it, although Fay quickly tugged it away when the contact shocked her, not in any metaphorical way, it had actually shocked her. From the slight widening of his eyes she knew he'd felt it too.

"Well, I'll see you later." Fay told her brother and rushed out of the room, only to run into a group of girls.

"He's in there, right?" one of them asked.

"Who?" Fay asked rubbing her hand on the side of her pants.

"Astor!" They chorused, giggling.

Fay felt like gagging. 'He has a fan club.' She thought incredulously.

"Yeah he's in there." She muttered, trying desperately to push through the crowd of girls, however they wouldn't have it. They pulled her aside and Fay suddenly felt as if she were being surrounded by sharks.

"So, tell us; what did he say? Did he stand close to you? What type of cologne is he wearing?"

Fay shuddered. "He just said hi." She answered. "Sorry but I have to go now." With desperate determination she pushed her way through the throng of girls, rushing towards the elevators, intent on escape.

"Your fan club cornered Fay." Ryan informed as he watched his sister from the window.

"And I appreciate her sacrifice." Astor said sounding serious.

An eyebrow arched in question as Ryan glanced over at Astor, then looked back out the window. "You know, sometimes the way you talk sounds like it belongs in some old movie."

Astor shrugged, sitting. "It was, perhaps, my upbringing."

Ryan snorted. "Upbringing? Seriously, where do you get these words?"

When he got no answer Ryan turned to Astor. His friend was starring at the closed, and locked, door.

Astor's thoughts weren't on the conversation; they were on the girl who had just left them. He'd seen far more beautiful girls than this one, indeed there was nothing special he could see about this one. She was of small stature, large aquamarine eyes, and waist length hazel hair. Perhaps the eyes…but no, he'd seen more spectacular eyes.

Astor finally placed it on the shock that had gone from his hand to hers, or perhaps the other way around.

Many did not believe in faith or destiny, but he was one who did and there was something about this girl; whatever it was he was determined to find out.

A hand came into view, snapping his fingers at him.

"Earth to Astor." Ryan waved a hand in front of him.

Astor looked at his friend. "Yes?" he asked.

Ryan frowned then looked at the door, then back at him. "No." he said firmly. "My sister is strictly out of bounds, you have an entire fan club out there. Go flirt with them, but not my sister."

Astor raised an inquiring eyebrow at Ryan then frowned. "You are Ryan? Or is it Duncan?"

He smirked. "You got it first; Ryan."

"Very well then, Ryan, why would you think I was somehow interested in your younger sister?" his tone was offhand.

Ryan suddenly looked offended. "What's wrong with my sister? I'll have you know she's a great cook."

It was Astor's turn to smirk. "Is that so?"

Ryan nodded, picking up one of the books Fay had brought him. "Yeah; Mom's got this thing about girls knowing how to cook even if the rest of us can't. She says it's something a girl should know and…" Ryan trailed off, his eyes narrowing when he noticed Astor's smirk.

"I'm not falling for it. You have to promise to keep-" he stopped when the door was rattled, there was a click and Duncan rushed in, locking the door behind him.

"Ever since you and your family came there's been way too many girls hanging out around here, and none of them are interested in us." Duncan said in disgust, pulling out a chair to sit in. "Ryan, Sunday dinner at seven; don't forget." Then he turned to Astor. "Wanna join us?"

Before Ryan could decline the invitation for Astor, his friend nodded. "Of course; I have no previous engagements."

That wasn't true of course, but at the moment he deemed getting a closer look at Fayre, than planning for an upcoming war, slightly more important.

"Seriously, stop talking like you just came out of some old novel." Duncan complained.

"I will try." Astor replied.

Duncan rolled his eyes and picked up the book. "So Fay came after all. I was wondering if she would. I think we're going to have to bribe her or we'll have to get our own stuff next time."

Ryan sent a warning glare at Astor before turning to his brother. Astor understood; the conversation wasn't over, just postponed.

It wasn't that she hadn't paid attention to the street light. It was the idiot in the motorcycle who hadn't.

As Fay walked out into the street the motorcycle made a curve, coming straight at her. Eyes wide she backed away and the rider slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop millimeters before her.

"Watch where you're going next time!" she snapped, glowering at the motorcyclist before she continued on her way, muttering under her breath.

However it wasn't long before she heard it, the sound of a motorcycle, seconds later it had slowed to match her pace.

"I'm sorry. I was preoccupied and wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's not too hard to figure out." Fay muttered to herself, then louder spoke to him. "Fine, go away." She didn't bother to glance his way.

"I really am sorry and…I usually don't go after girls I almost ran over but…but…have we met before?"

Something in the way he asked the question made a shiver of dread run down her spine. She slowed down, finally turning to look at him. The helmet visor was up and she could see green eyes and red hair.

She shook her head. "Nope, sorry, never seen you before in my life." Looking away she started walking.

"Are you sure?" he called after her, seemingly unwilling to let it go.

"I'm sure." She replied firmly.

"Nikias."

Fay stopped, glancing at him again.

"My name is Nikias."

Fay scratched her cheek. 'Guess the polite thing to do is give him mine.' Too bad she wasn't feeling all that polite right now. "Never heard your name before." She answered instead then walked away.

For a few precious moments it seemed as if he would let her go, then she heard him speed up. 'Give me a break!' Fay thought in irritation. The guy had apologized, couldn't he get lost now?

'Why do I always run into the weirdoes!' Fay thought. He could also be a stalker; Fay thought that would explain the chill that had gone down her spine.

She quickly ducked into a parking garage, her pace quickening. 'Even if the guy's trying to hit on me I'm not interested.' Actually, that made her dislike him even more. Fay knew herself well enough to know that she'd never really had an interest in a guy, well not the 'let's go out on dates and hold hands' type of interest. She just didn't find any that were her type.

Her friends said her expectations were too high, and she found she agreed. If only so that they would stop trying to set her up with guys when she had better things to do, like skate.

Fay ducked behind a car when she heard the motorcycle enter. 'Definitely a stalker.' Fay crouched down behind a car. There were sudden footsteps behind her and her two best friends, Nina and Madeline, crouched down besides her.

"So, who are we hiding from?" Madeline asked.

"Guy with the motorcycle." Fay whispered.

Nina slowly stood from her crouch until she could see him. "That guy? Why are we hiding from him? I mean, la! Have you taken a look at him?" Nina crouched down once more.

Curious, Madeline peeked at him and whistled in appreciation. The man looked in her direction and she ducked back down quickly.

"You had to whistle! You just had too!" Fay whispered fervently, still crouched, she started to move away.

"He almost ran me over! Okay, so he apologized, but you'd think he'd leave after that but nooo, he wanted to know my name and god knows what else." She complained as he friends followed after her.

"So why are you hiding from him?" Madeline repeated Nina's question.

"Not interested in stalkers." Fay whispered through her teeth.

Madeline snorted. "You're never interested, even when they're not stalkers. If I didn't know you as well as I did, I'd wonder about you."

Fay glowered, wishing she'd had something handy to throw at her so called friend.

Sensing the danger, Madeline stood along with Nina. "Well I'll take the chance. We'll distract him while you use another exit."

"Thanks." Fay whispered to them, taking off at a run while the two walked over to where Nikias was.

"Hey." Madeline waved at him, a flirty smile on her face. That smile soon disappeared, her pace slowing, then stopping as she took a good look at him.

Nina grabbed her arm, pulling Madeline away. "Whatever you're playing at, stop it.' Nina warned coldly.

Nikias tilted his head in a nod departed.

* * *

Fay quickly crossed the garage, going out the nearest exit. Once outside she moved down the street once more, her pace more relaxed this time. 'Now that that's over with,' Fay thought to herself. 'Guess I better get home.'

She still had an assignment to finish for school and if she didn't finish it, she could kiss her skating time goodbye.

With a weary sigh she sped up, only to freeze when she heard the sound of a motorcycle. Of course, hearing one didn't automatically mean it was stalker boy, but something told her it was.

With a muttered curse she ducked into the first store she saw.

It was a small shop, hardly noticeable if you weren't looking for it. At first Fay thought it was a store for used books; however she soon realized it wasn't.

Yes it had books, but these books weren't paperbacks, they looked old and some of the thickest had leather covers. There were also other things such as charms, what looked like potions, and even odd ingredients… she assumed they were ingredients.

"May I help you?" she looked up then took a step back, her eyes wide.

It was him, the old man in her dream, the man Camille had spoken about.

He wore reading glasses that he slowly took off, his eyes narrowing as he examined her closely. She heard the sharp intake of his breath even as she backed towards the door. She'd rather take her chances with stalker guy, because something told her if she stayed here much longer her life would change. "Uhh…sorry I made a mistake." She reached for the door when he spoke.

Fay froze, her body slowly turning.

Those words, she shouldn't know what language he was speaking, an old form of Greek perhaps, but she understood them, in fact she began talking in it, but it was as if she had stepped to the side and another her had suddenly taken over.

Fayre smiled reluctantly at the Wizard, speaking in the same old language. "_So you have found me, Old One. I had hoped I would be able to hide myself longer."_

The Wizard Merlin shook his head. "_What game do you play, Right? They gather in this place now. All of them gather, have you not noticed; two of them have already set their sights on you without even knowing who you are. However they sense it and you cannot hide any longer, and you must know; they will not let a mortal take you this time."_

The one known as The Supremacy Right closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips, then opened them and looked at Merlin. _"This time Wizard, I have a true say in it. I have finally reached my goal, look at me; born of a human mother and father, I have a family. For many years since my birth, in this form I have lived a normal life. That is what I wish, to be normal not simply a weapon that enables someone to gain power and then misuse it. I have a heart, and it is my own." _She placed a hand over her heart, a serene smile on her lips._ "I will not give it away so easily."_

Merlin nodded. "_Nonetheless you know they will all come after you, and the worst part is that there is a new faction after you. They simply call themselves The Fears. Have you not watched the news? There have been murders recently that no one can understand; however we know. It is them. It is their warning to the other factions not to get in their way. They want the Right, they want you, and they will not stop until they have what they want."_

Behind her the small bell signaling someone entering sounded, and Nikias walked in.

The Right stepped away from him, her smile vanishing. Wariness appeared in her eyes.

_"So I was right,"_ He spoke in the same language. "_It is you."_

The girl smiled coldly, bowing_. "Congratulations; you are the first to have found me, or perhaps I should say the second."_ her tone was mocking.

_"May I know what we are to call you? You denied me your human name before if you recall."_

The girl smiled, although her smile held no warmth. "_In this incarnation you may call me Fayre, you understand if I deny you my soul name, I would not give you such a high advantage."_ her tone was contemptuous.

_"Of course."_ Nikias replied respectfully, tilting his head in a bow to her.

In the world they inhabited all knew that a true Soul Name held incredible power.

It could bind a being to another better than even blood could. They could force the compliance of the other, and the revealed could do nothing but obey.

It was the very name of their existence, and no one gave it lightly, if at all.

For centuries she had been known as The Supremacy Right, an object, something to be fought over and gained. For the span of sixteen years she had been known as Fayre, so through this struggle she would keep it, it would remind her that now she had a chance.

Fayre turned her attention back to Nikias. She found him watching her, eyes slightly narrowed in thought.

_"As much as you would like it, do you truly believe that you will ever reach a dawn? You cannot escape who you are."_

Fayre smiled, her contempt apparent. "_Don't flatter yourself, as old as you are, you know very little. I have seen, and I do believe."_

She stepped to the middle of the room. There was no choice now. One had found out, one who knew who she was and sought her out. As many times before, she had no choice.

The demon known as Nikias stepped further away as Fayre raised her right arm. _**"Xypno!"**_ (Wake) The word brought forth a pentagram of the deepest gold.

A deep wind swirled around her, making her hazel hair swirl around her like a halo, however before she could speak the words Fayre felt her other self, Fay object. "_We can't do this! Everything, our life, everything we've worked for will crumble! Please don't!"_

Nikias couldn't see it, but Merlin could.

He could see half the soul that was the young human girl take form beside the Right, her hands on Fayre's rising arm.

_"We are two sides of the same coin,' Fayre spoke to her other self. "You know as well as I do that we have no choice, we never did. Please, it's time to stop running. We'll find our dawn, but we must unite, we can do this, together."_

Fay's eyes filled with ghostly tears. "_No, we can't; and you know it as well as I do. We can't. Look, he wants us for one reason; all except the Wizards want us for one reason. We have our family, but in the end, we both know they will be safe, whatever happens, and so they're not enough to help us seek a way out of this."_

Tears spilled over, although Nikias couldn't see Fay he could see the tears spilling from Fayre's face, however she shook her head, smiling gently to her right, as if to someone else there.

_"That's not the way we usually think."_ she chided Fay gently. "_True, we don't have a way out of this yet, but that only means we must seek it. Trust me, Fayre, trust yourself; we'll find a way."_

Behind Nikias the door burst open and Astor rushed in, his eyes wide.

Not long after Fayre had left, a feeling had told him to seek her out and so he had. Now he knew why. 'The Right.' He thought. 'She's the Right.' It had never happened before, not this way, but he couldn't deny what he could see.

"Dragon Lord." Nikias acknowledged the leader of the Dragon faction.

Astor's eyes cooled. "Demon." He said, his tone matching his eyes.

Then they turned from each other, watching the girl still floating in the middle of the pentagram, her arm half raised.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened them, her whole manner speaking of serenity, the tears that had run down her cheeks gone. They could not see, but Merlin could. It was not Fayre who did that, but Fay, yet they were one being.

Slowly Fay let go of Fayre's arm. "_You're right. I'm right. We can do this, because this time, we really can choose." _And she'd give hell to anyone who decided to get in her way!

Before Merlin's eyes Fay walked into Fayre, white light flared around the girl as the soul finally settled, came to terms, merged together. An aquamarine burst flashed from the girl but quickly disappeared.

Determination flared to life in her eyes as her arm finished rising. Then in a strong, echoing voice she spoke. "**Ego gnorizo dikos mou xypnima afino artho kyriarchia polemos archizo."** (I acknowledge my awakening, let the Supremacy War Commence)

The pentagram glowed deeply, the golden light flared upwards, through the ceiling and into the sky where all those belonging to a faction witnessed it, this time however, only one mortal in this world saw it.

With the flash of light Fay sent the strength of her own wish, selfish as she thought it might be, and so the magical light was seen not only in this world but others as well.


	3. Chapter 3: Signs ED: 00014

**Chapter 3: Signs (ED: 00014)**

In his office, the Prince of Spirit world worried, he wasn't so far gone as to be panicking, he was actually waiting on the detective for that, but he was worrying, so much so that he was in danger of wearing out his pacifier. "Ogre!" he called out.

"Yes, Lord Koenma!" George, a blue ogre and Koenma's assistant raced into the office.

He looked out of breath, as if, like all those running back and forth behind the doors, he had been doing the same. "Where are they? I sent Botan to get them hours ago!"

George glanced at the clock. "Actually, Sir, it's only been fifteen minutes."

"That's beside the point!" Koenma snapped. "This is important! The most important event in over millennia and they're late!"

"They're here!" A girl with blue hair raised in a ponytail and wearing a pink kimono raced into the room on a flying oar, behind her a group of four teenage boys entered.

The one at the front was a red-head, with emerald eyes and wearing a magenta school uniform, a school bag still in his right hand. Not far behind him was the shortest of the four; spiky black hair, a starburst of white hair at the front and a bandanna over his forehead, his red eyes found Koenma and pinned him with a glare.

The third, on the red head's other side, wore a green uniform, his black hair slicked back, his manner laid back. The last one was the tallest, orange hair, blue school uniform; the expression on his plain, to be kind, face annoyed.

"Great timing Koenma, for once I was glad to actually be called in."

"In another words, you had a test." The red-head said, his voice calm and a little amused.

"Yeah, wouldn't you know, the only day I go to school and they spring a test on me."

The red-head chuckled lightly. "Perhaps you would have known if you'd attended more classes, Yusuke."

The other snorted. "I have better things to do than waste my time there."

"Well I was ready!" The orange-hair complained loudly. "Shizuru had me studying until late last night." He glared on Koenma. "This better be good."

"Enough!" Koenma slammed his hands on his desk, surprising the four, although two didn't show it.

"Sheesh Koenma, calm down, what the heck's got your diapers in a bunch?"

Koenma's eye twitched. As much as he disliked Yusuke's way of putting things, he didn't have any time to argue with him.

"Listen, all of you. Something bad has happened. Normally this event is confined to one dimension, however this time it seems that it has reached out further, and our world's been included." Sweat beaded on his brow as he thought about it.

This was bad.

Bad enough that many of the events that had happened in that dimension had happened in this one as well, and the influence had been indirect.

He feared what would happen if the events suddenly transferred to this world, in the hands of a demon intent on conquest. He shivered. It would not be pretty.

"Perhaps you could start at the beginning." Calm as always, Kurama recalled Koenma's attention back to the conversation.

"Yes, of course." Koenma leaned back on his chair. "Well it all began…"

Twenty minutes, due to interruptions from Yusuke and Kuwabara, later he had given them an explanation of the history until now.

"I thought there was something weird about that light last night." Yusuke remembered now; He'd been making his way home when he'd seen it.

"What light?" Kuwabara looked at Yusuke. "I didn't see any light."

"Of course you wouldn't fool."

Kuwabara glared at Hiei. "What did you say?"

"You heard me." Hiei glared back. "Only those who are qualified saw the light. Since you didn't see it, it obviously means that you're not worthy enough to take part in this."

Kuwabara gritted his teeth. "Oh yeah, and you saw it!"

Hiei smirked up at Kuwabara. "Of course."

"No way! Why would a little shrimp like you be chosen!"

Hiei's glare returned. "I'm far more-"

"I saw it too." Kurama interrupted before the argument could escalate. "A golden flash descending to earth." He'd felt there had been more to that light, even now he still remembered it, there had been a feeling of hope and determination in it, yet at the same time a sadness he couldn't understand; all of this feelings he'd felt emanating from the light before , seconds later, it vanished.

Kurama tilted his head slightly to the left, as if listening, then he glanced at Hiei and nodded, the movement unnoticed by all but Hiei, who gave no sign he'd seen it, his eyes on Koenma.

Koenma nodded in answer to Kurama's observation. "That's the one." He picked up a remote and clicked the on button.

The screen turned on to show a valley from a bird's eye view. "I'm sure you've heard of it. This valley is located in the human world, the states, more specifically California."

He looked at the four, not surprised when only Kurama nodded.

"The Silicon Valley if I'm not mistaken."

"The what?" Yusuke asked. Kurama glanced at him. "It's not that far from San Francisco,' when Yusuke still looked confused Kurama elaborated. "The Golden gate bridge."

"Oh yeah; I've heard of that place, what about it?" Yusuke asked.

"Not that place exactly.' Koenma continued, now that that had been cleared up. "It's more the energy that is gathering there, in that valley. I believe that's where it'll take place, whatever it is. Even I'm not sure about that; however you must get to the Right before anyone else. I'm sure you won't be the only ones seeking it, in whichever form it's decided to appear in, you'll know once you've set eyes on it." He looked at the four. "Pack up; you're going on a trip."

"Now that sounds more like it!"

"This isn't a vacation, Yusuke." Koenma warned the grinning detective.

"Sure, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it."

Koenma sighted. 'Maybe I should have let father deal with it.' But no, his father's methods would have probably made the situation much worse. Force wasn't always the best way to do things.

"Botan will be accompanying you." He look over at the Grim Reaper who held up a peace sign. Koenma blinked. "When did you…"

Botan smiled. "Well it's always good to be prepared." She said in her spunky English accent.

The blue hair girl was wearing sunglasses and at some point had left to change into blue jeans and a long sleeved pink shirt. Two black suitcases stood at her left.

"Botan this isn't a vacation!" Koenma exclaimed annoyed.

Botan grinned. "I know, I know, but like Yusuke said; it doesn't mean we can't have some fun."

"Nice to see we agree on something." Yusuke grinned back at her. Next to him Kurama chuckled silently.

Kuwabara, still a little put out grumbled. "Guess I better go tell Shizuru, huh." Koenma nodded. "Yes, you have six hours to get ready. Be at the airport at nine exactly."

And so six hours later; and half an hour later, the plane having thankfully been delayed, the four spirit detectives and one grim reaper found themselves en route to the States.

AN: I guess this chapter's a little shorter than my others, but I wanted to set this up. The group won't show up till chapter six now, but once they do show up again they'll be staying for good. Reviews and constructive criticism welcome, as I said this is my first time doing a story and I'd like to know how I'm doing. As for the characters, hopefully I kept them well in character.

* * *

Oh yeah one more thing; if anyone was wondering, ED stands for Earth Dimension, and the number states its numerical order from the earth where the story originally takes place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Encounters**

'It all sounded like it made sense back then.' The girl thought as she fell back on her bed. 'Perfect sense…' Fay had to admit that it no longer did. It was one thing to say that she'd somehow find her way out of this, it was entirely another to actually start on that road.

She could still remember what had happened back in that small shop.

The demon, dragon, and wizard had bowed to her when the pentagram had vanished. She'd nodded curtly before walking out, the two by the door making way for her.

As soon as she'd found herself outside she'd broken into a run and hadn't stopped until she had gotten home. That night she'd had dinner with her family, her two friends, and the dragon, Astor. To her surprise, both Madeline and Nina hadn't been happy at his appearance either. She'd caught them glaring at him a few times, which actually made her feel better.

Astor had tried talking to her; telling her that he was the best being to choose, that he would make sure she would be protected and had sworn to keep her family protected.

'Talk about dramatics.' She thought.

Astor had gone down on his knee, much like some kind of knight, and sworn his service to her.

She'd backed away.

"Sorry but I'm not interested." Plus the whole kneeling thing had been kind of corny in her thinking. "Let's face it, all you want is for me to hand you the ability to rule, and I won't do that. The rules have been set, complete engagement of the heart and nothing less. I won't hand you the right, Dragon Leader," she'd formally addressed him even as she silently cringed at having to talk that way. "Because I don't believe in you, it's as simple as that."

She'd never had a guy look at her that way, like she hung the moon and stars. "I believe in destiny,' he'd said. "And I believe we met when we did because we are destined for each other. Please, let me prove myself to you. I swear to do all in my power. Even if you hadn't been the Right, still I would have done my best to be by your side."

Fay had faltered at that. The look in his strange eyes had told her he believed the words he said to her, and so she'd found herself taking a step forward before she'd even thought about it. Then she'd heard a whispery chuckle.

Before she realized it, Astor had placed himself before her, a sword in his hands.

"Show yourself werewolf!" he'd called out, and a figure walked out from between her mother's rosebushes.

"You!" Fay accused.

The tall brown-hair man bowed deeply to her. "If destiny is what you wish to speak of, then you should yield her to me, Dragon Lord." Astor stiffened, his hold on the sword strengthening.

"How so?" he asked. The man stepped into the light and looked at Fay with very light glowing hazel eyes. "Because even before you, I met her. That very night..."

He looked at her, knowing she would know.

"You were the one watching me from the shadows on the fourth." Fay confirmed, wishing she'd brought her cell phone with her. She'd speed dial emergency and had both of them committed to the nearest psych ward.

"My name is Konnor and I bow my service to you, Goddess of Supremacy."

Astor had stepped forward menacingly; Fay had stiffened, stepping away from the two.

'I can't believe a small part of me almost bought that crap!' She clenched her hands into fists at her sides. 'But of course, they'll all say that.'

"Neither of you," She said, putting a stop to the argument between them. "Neither of you mean it! You'll do whatever it takes to rule, but none of you care how I really feel or you wouldn't be doing this! So why don't both of you go back to whatever messed up zoo you escaped from!" she'd whirled around and ran into the house, slamming the back door closed.

Now it was Friday and she'd barely made it through the school day, having slept two hours the previous night. They were getting close to her, she could feel it; The Fears.

There had been a large number of killings, always getting closer to downtown.

'What am I going to do?' Fay thought.

It was getting harder to keep acting like everything was normal when it wasn't anymore. Heck, even her skating was suffering the effects. She couldn't concentrate on that when every time she passed a stranger she couldn't help but wonder if they'd start stalking her.

She wasn't normal anymore, no, and now that she'd owned up to it, staying here wasn't an option anymore. 'It's for the best, I have to believe that.' It didn't explain why she felt like crying.

Fay stared out the open window of her room, lost in thought, until a figure hefted himself over it and inside her room.

"Damn it! Would you guys stop that!" she snapped, jumping to her feet.

Long black hair, violet eyes and clothes to match the eyes; this was one of the Malaika by the name of Zadkiel. "I should push you out the window, you know." She said hands on hips.

"If that is your wish,' Zadkiel responded.

Fay frowned. There it was again, that weird way they all talked, well most of them, and those that didn't, talked that way when they got all official like.

She'd met Zadkiel on Monday morning on her way to school.

The idiot had simply walked up to her and hugged her, calling her his salvation and swearing his allegiance to her. Her friends had gawked, and so had the other girls and guys, making their way to school. However he has this gentle type of faces, one that had stopped her from slamming a fist into his pretty face.

Instead she'd pulled away, glaring.

"Go away." She'd ordered.

"I know that is what you wish, but you must listen to me, please I implore you."

Nina and Madeline had glanced at each other, as if they were uncertain about what to do, before Madeline apparently made a decision and dragged Nina away with her.

Fay had glowered at those still gawking until they'd started moving, then directed her glower at him. "You know they're going to start gossiping about this now."

"I apologize." He'd said, without her permission he'd taken her hand and led her down the street into a Starbucks, where he'd ordered them both something to drink and sat on the chair across from her.

"Talk, and make it quick," Fay said impatiently. "What do you want; no wait, I know what you want and the answer's no."

He'd watched her with silent patience. "Azrael is who seeks that power. I find myself happy with my position; you however, will never know peace until you find a way out of who you are. The names that they have called you in the past, they have hidden even from you your Soul Name, have they not."

He leaned forward. "You know what I speak of. They called you Excalibur, they have called you the Holy Grail,' he stopped when she snorted. "Please; I was never the Holy Grail."

At the same time, she couldn't help but wonder at what the hell she was talking about. Fay really hoped this was all some sort of delusion because some rabid college girl had bitten her and now she was simply in a nice cozy patted cell, waiting for all this to just go away.

Unaware of her thoughts, the smile that had appeared in Zadkiel's face had been knowing and a little amused. "Then why were you so weak as to not be able to protect your chosen King?"

Fay had narrowed her eyes, feeling just a little as if she were a puppet and someone else was controlling her. "I don't remember, I just barely remembered what I am, and not happily. Yes I was the sword,' how she wished she could kick her other half's butt. "Was I ever the Grail…" she hesitated frowning, "Okay so there's a small possibility. It wouldn't be the first time I was broken in half." And now it sounded like she was some damn toy.

Zadkiel was silent, and when his name was called he stood and picked up their drinks.

He returned and settled into the chair once more. "However,' she continued, "From what I've been told; once those two artifacts became legend I was mended by Van…van…vena...errr…"

"Väinämöinen." Zadkiel provided the name. "He's still around?" he then asked in surprise.

Fay smirked. "Yes." She answered, "I vanished into the stream of time after that, at least for a while, the rest you know. Well that's what I was told by Merlin."

Fay tapped her fingers on the table impatiently.

"What do you want?" Fay asked once more, although this time she sounded tired.

"I want to help you, you are human now, and you wish for as normal an existence as you can get," Fay nodded.

"Then let me help you. That is all I ask."

That's the part where Fay had stood. "Thanks for the drink." She'd muttered, already on her way out. She'd known he'd watched her until she walked out of sight.

Now here he was again, back to annoy her. "You know I find it hard to believe that you want to help me, after all you're part of one of the factions after me; even if you are known as a Malaika."

"Then come with me, we'll go far away where none of them can find us. I will help you find your dawn." Fay's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Fay, come with me; if you simply say it, I will give up my place in the faction and leave with you."

Fay shook her head, stepping back. "What are you, crazy? I can't run away from this,' half of her wondered why the hell not, "and neither can you; what's more; what am I supposed to think when you come on this strong! We've just met and not only you but Kyro and Konnor have said something similar. I mean seriously, at least Astor came up with something to explain his insanity." Cause insanity it was.

Zadkiel stiffened at the dragon's name. "He has nothing to do with this, but can you not see?"

Fay shook her head, feeling as if they were both speaking different languages.

"We have sought you for centuries, dreamed of having you by our side, and now we have found that you have come to us in a form in which we can cherish you."

At his words, warning bells began going off inside her head. "Wait…explain that again?"

Zadkiel smiled. "In simple terms; I believe you will find most males in the factions wish to have you by their side, as their own, Fay. Except for the wizards, of course."

Her eyes narrowed to slits, then she sighted in exasperation, her expression said she wasn't buying it and she wasn't sticking around for the rest of the auction.

"Okay then..." she sidled away.

Zadkiel started forward but Fay stopped him with a pointed finger. "No you stay, stay right here. Don't you dare follow me or I swear I'll call the police."

Puzzled, Zadkiel watched as Fay went to her closet, picked up a backpack and her skates. "Stay." She pointed at him in warning, before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Fay supposed that any other girl would have been swooning in joy at having a bunch of hot guys trying to 'court' her, their words not hers. That was the final straw, she wasn't going to listen to any of them, and she wasn't going to fall for any of their stupid lines! 'I won't!' Fay silently fumed, picturing several tons of explosives going off in their vicinity. 'And they can all go to hell.' She'd heard it was a very painful place to be in.

Fay turned a corner and crossed the street, heading towards the river park. 'That's where all this began.' She thought to herself. 'I wonder how Camille's doing.'

Fay had seen the older girl around the college campus. She'd been walking with three other girls, her face showing how happy she was. 'At least one of us is happy.' Fay came to a stop in front of the park, lost in her thoughts.

Then she saw it.

The light of a battle field burst up into the night sky before it encompassed the entire park and vanished, although Fay could still feel its presence.

The battle field made it so that everything within it became a different dimension where a fight took place, anything that was destroyed within it returned to normal once the field was down, and no one but those involved in the war could go through it.

'Damn it!' Acting against her better instincts she raced into the battle field. 'I don't want anyone fighting over me, it won't help them. I've said this before!'

"Storm of Ice!" she heard a female voice call out before the spell took effect and ice appeared from high up, rushing at a dodging figure.

"Is that all you have Magus!" Fay heard a boy's voice, maybe around twelve, shout. Then she saw him.

He dodged the ice attack fluidly, as if he knew the very places where the ice would hit. Floating around him was a cord of thick red velvet; at both ends were red glowing spheres with thick silver spikes.

The cord rushed forward, as if thrown by an invisible hand, the spikes growing slightly larger before launching themselves at the Mage.

"You're nowhere old enough to take me on, little werewolf." The mage smirked, stretching her arm forward, her palm open.

The spikes hit an invisible shield and fell to the ground.

"Shut up old hag!" The boy growled. "I'll take you down no matter what!" He curled his right hand into a fist, pointing in the fallen of the spikes.

The spikes shook, launched themselves into the air, circling the mage as they tried to find the shield's weak point.

"How dare you call me an old hag! You sniveling little twerp!"

Fay stepped onto the grass and almost slipped, the wheels on her rollerblades spinning as she caught her balance momentarily, the lightning that blazed down from the sky caught her by surprise and she fell onto the wet grass.

"Blaah." Fay spit out the grass in her mouth, passing her arm over her now wet and somewhat dirty face. She picked herself up slowly, taking a look at the combatants. 'No, I haven't met them before.'

One was a woman, perhaps in her late twenty's, though with a mage it was highly doubtful, she could be a thousand years old and it wouldn't show.

The mage had silky blond hair that cascaded down her back to her knees; she wore an elegant white halter dress, pearls hung around her neck and silver earrings swayed slightly as she moved, she was of mid height, taller than her own four eight inches, perhaps around five something.

The way she moved was as if Fay were watching a dancer on stage; one of the woman's white gloved hands was up in front of her as she directed the lightning with practiced ease, much like a band conductor.

The dark brown hair boy wore a white Chinese shirt, brown pants and black shoes. He moved swiftly as he dodged the strikes then sent his own attack forward.

"What makes you think you could ever hold the attention of the Right?" The woman taunted the boy. "You're nothing but a boy, and from what I've been told, she doesn't care much for any of the males."

"Shut up hag!" the boy shouted, sending his spikes out once more, but once more she blocked them. "Like you have any chance of gaining her approval either!" he shot back.

"And you do?" the woman taunted as she stepped closer to the boy.

The boy growled, somersaulting away from her. "Don't come near old hag!"

Fay wasn't sure, but she thought she saw the woman's eye twitch. "I'll only take your insults for so long pup! Earth tremble!"

The ground around the boy began to tremble, earth spikes beginning to form.

"Stop!" Fay shouted standing quickly. The two turned as one in her direction.

"The Right!" The boy said in surprise, then jumped away before the spell could be completed; turned in mid air and landed a few feet from Fay. "Have you come to prove me right, oh great one?"

Now it was Fay's eye that twitched. "No you idiot!" she shouted angrily. "I'm here to tell the two of you to stop this at once! If you think that you're going to get anywhere by fighting like this then you're wrong!"

"Ah, so you're the Right." The woman walked over to them. Her brown eyes assessed Fay, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. "So it's true, you now wear the form of a human female."

Self conscious Fay stepped back. She wasn't exactly wearing elegant clothes. Her clothes were a little baggy on her body, her blue jeans ripped at the knee, her black shirt had the picture of a small white kitten snarling. "Yeah, so what?"

A smile slowly stretched over the mage's lips. "This does most certainly make things much more difficult." She bowed lightly. "My name is Corentin, I belong to the Magus Faction." Light flashed in her eyes and a black pentagram appeared beneath Fay.

"What the heck are you doing?" Fay demanded.

"Capturing you of course."

Fay tried to rush out of the pentagram only to be bounced back to the middle, dropping her on butt.

"Let her go! This isn't part of the rules!" she heard the boy shout.

"Now, where in the rules does it say that she cannot be captured? This is war boy, not some game we play to please her."

Fay stood, glaring at Corentin. "I never wanted this war in the first place, and I won't be used like some stupid tool!"

Corentin smiled coldly. "But don't you see, Right, you are nothing but a tool…to all of us."

Beginning to feel weak, Fay fell to her knees. She was really getting tired of falling so freakin much!. 'I know she's right. All of them see me as a tool.' Not for a moment had she believed what Zadkiel had said. It came to her mind that what they were all infatuated with was what she represented, power, not her…never her. Not that she minded that part, but she'd rather they not be interested in her period.

Her vision blurred. She could hear the boy shouting at Corentin to stop, his weapon being launched at her while the mage blocked it and kept up the spell.

Fay didn't have to be told what type of spell this was, she was already feeling the effects, her eyes were getting heavy and so were her limbs. '

'I am so going to get her back…for…for this.' It was her last thought before she collapsed onto the grass.

"How dare you!" Lovell shouted, sending his spikes out once more. "You will never gain what you want this way!"

Corentin laughed. "Oh we'll gain it, just you watch."

Once more she placed the shield up and Lovell smirked. This time the spikes went right through the shield, slamming into her shoulders, right arm, and thigh.

Corentin screamed in pain and doubled over.

"Never underestimate a werewolf!" Lovell smirked in triumph.

Corentin shot a death glare at him and stood, pain twisting her face. "I'm not done just yet you fool. Soon the Right will be teleported to my Leader."

Lovell turned to the collapsed figure in the pentagram. "Hold on! I'll get you out." However the figure didn't move and Corentin laughed.**"Darkness, by my blood I invoke thee…"**

Lovell turned back to the mage, his teeth gritted. 'That spell, I won't be able to dodge it.' He knew because their leader and his older brother, Bardulf, hadn't been able to dodge it either**.**

"**Rise from the hells at my command…"**

Lovell took a few steps back. 'But…but I have to get her out, I can't let the mages win…which means I'll have to use my secret weapon.' At least if he wanted to dodge the strike.

"**And destroy my enemies!"**

Corentin's blood seeped down to pool around her, then vanished as red light filtered out behind her from the ground, before Lovell's eyes a demon from the fourth hell arose.

Pitch black, it had the form of a bull standing on hind legs, its eyes glowing a menacing dirty red.

"Kill him." Corentin pointed. With an inhuman cry the demon launched itself at Lovell.

'I won't go down without a fight!' He launched his rope, the rope changing into a large red cobra that hissed and opened its jaws wide, its fangs sinking into the demon's left shoulder and stopping the demon's strike.

The demon cried out in pain, taking a hold of the cobra with its large crab like hands. The cobra hissed but kept its grip, and the two fell to the ground. The ground underneath the bull sizzled, beginning to turn into molten lava as with a forceful tug, it freed its shoulder and threw the cobra away from itself.

The Magus and the Werewolf watched each other warily. "Tell me, how is it that you hold a summons werewolf?"

Lovell smirked. "It's been a long time since the last war; my brother knew that we had to advance or face being killed off."

Corentin snarled, her face no longer beautiful but ugly in its twisted rage and hatred. "Pathetic, trust me when I say you will be extinguished in this war."

She pointed her good arm at the pentagram and it began to fade away.

"No!" Lovell shouted, quickly trying to find a way to break the pentagram.

Corentin laughed, the demon roared and charged the cobra. Suddenly there was a sound like shattering glass as a bright blue light collided with the shield around the pentagram and brought it down.

Another blue light consumed the demon and banished it back to its hell; a gust of blue wind whirled around the fallen figure and suddenly she was gone.

"Count this as your first strike Corentin." A young female's voice echoed through the park before the battle field also vanished.

Lovell jumped back. "Looks like we'll have to take this up later." He smirked.

Corentin clutched at her bleeding arm. 'Damn Guardian.' She thought. Never had any of the past Guardians ever dared to do what this one had done. 'Pathetic mortals, how dare they believe they can hold sway over us?' Still for tonight she would retreat.


	5. Chapter 5: Chances

**Chapter 5: Chances**

Fay slowly woke to a dark sky and a cold wind blowing. She shivered, slowly standing.

"Man, you're sure making a whole lot of noise you know." Fay look to the girl sitting on a bench near her.

The girl had dark brown hair falling past her shoulders, slightly slanted brown eyes behind glasses, and a petite figure; her height didn't go past 4'6, Fay guessed.

She had on a cream color turtle neck shirt beneath a red coat, black jeans and black dress boots, without the long heels.

"You know, it's supposed to be summer and warm, but its turning out to be pretty chilly. I'm guessing that has to do with the start of the war,' she spoke in a sweet almost childlike voice, yet there was also an underlying tone that kept it from being one, and since she was small, it fit her well.

"Who…who are you?" Fay asked cautiously.

The girl gave her a lopsided smiled. "Well…hmm…" The girl was silent as she thought, her gaze gliding over to the train that had just passed, then nodded, turning back to Fay. "Those in the factions call me The Guardian. Which is basically what I was tricked into being, I say tricked because the one who handed me the job did it so quickly I wasn't sure what had happened." Her tone was self mocking.

"I mean who knew a book would cost me so much? And what sucked even more was that when I got home it turned out my brother had been able to buy me the very last copy of the book he'd found. Which was good, cause it turned out that the book I was given only had the book cover of the book I thought it was, what was written in it was totally different." She sighed in annoyance and stood, skipping a few feet past Fay, then looked at her over her shoulder.

"But if you're talking about my real name well… I can't exactly give it to you, it might put my family in danger, but you can call me Mary Anne, that's as close as you'll get to my actual name."

She turned to face Fay, a cheerful smile on her face. "And you're Fayre, The Right."

Fay sighed, nodding. "Yes, as much as I'd like not to be it."

Fay sat on the bench Mary Anne had vacated. "I don't know what I'm going to do now,' she spoke quietly. "It doesn't look like I can trust anyone, at least no one that isn't a Wizard, and they've told me that they can only do so much now that I'm in human form."

Mary Anne joined her on the bench, her legs swinging back and forth, her eyes on the dark sky. She was silent for a while before she spoke. "Want a way out of it?"

Fay turned to her, eyes questioning. "Yes! Is there a way?" Please let there be a way.

Mary Anne nodded, taking something out of her pocket and handing it to her. Fay studied the object.

It was a small piece of…of something that looked like the top part of a golden crown, or at least half.

Wound through a small hole in the middle peak, and the only one not missing, was a silver chain.

"It's supposed to be a crest, but it was shattered a very long time ago. I found out about it when I was studying the Guardian's book, quite a lot of info in it. This crest is called 'Destiny's Exchange,' and in exchange for restoring it, it'll grant you one wish," she held up her forefinger. "Just one, no 'and' can be attached to it. However whatever your wish, it will be granted. It doesn't matter if you want to become Queen of the entire dimensional scope, but please don't try that, or just want to bring back your great grandmother. It doesn't matter, it'll be granted."

Fay clutched it to her chest, hope in her eyes as she turned to Mary Anne. "You mean if I want to wish to just be a normal human…?" Mary Anne nodded. "It'll be granted, and whatever power you have to give to the factions will disappear from existence."

Fay gave a small shout of joy, hugging Mary Anne. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you!"

"No biggie." Mary Anne murmured, disentangling herself from the girl. "Just to warn you, I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, well not entirely." Not at all.

Mary Anne pushed her glasses back up her small nose and glanced at Fay. "You see, this world isn't used to powerful supernatural events, and it lets us know in a lot of ways. One is a forest going up in flames when by all rights it shouldn't have, floods, earthquakes, and even volcanoes suddenly erupting and taking out an entire island." Fay's eyes grew large as she listened.

"The thing is that our world, this earth, happens to be right in the middle of the dimensional scope."

Fay frowned. "I don't understand."

Mary Anne leaned back, looking up at the dark sky. "Think of it as a universe made up mostly of earths, but this earth, ours, is right smack in the middle and every time something happens here, chances are, a ripple effect will happen and that event will come to pass in all the earths the ripple reaches. It does happen that sometimes one or two will be passed over and the event won't happen, but it's very rare."

Fay thought about it for a moment then nodded her understanding. "So you're saying that if something bad happens here it'll most likely happen in those other worlds?"

Mary Anne nodded. "Yeah, our world, this earth, has chosen a path of technology not magic, although it does support the beings that have magical abilities like the factions, but the thing is that the factions have become stronger, much stronger."

Her eyes darkened in worry. "Our earth can't take so much pressure; it's like giving someone like you or me, a car to carry on our backs. We'll be lucky if we survive. In terms of this world,' she turned her gaze to Fay. "Armageddon, Ragnarok, whatever you want to call it. Eventually the overload of so much war magic will tear our world apart, and this will cause a wave that will very likely destroy the rest of the worlds, if not damage them irreparably. In the end our world is…well…80 percent, what you and I would call, 'normal." She looked away once more. "This time…this time it won't be able to take a war of this magnitude, but the earths in other dimensions can, and the pieces of that crest can only be found in those other worlds. The crest will guide you,' she smiled dryly, as she returned her gaze to Fay. "In other words; I'm putting you up as bait so that the factions will follow away from this world. So you see, not exactly the goodness of my heart."

Fay stared down at the small piece of crest clutched in her hands. So she was bait, still... "You're giving me a chance to become normal, and at the same time my leaving will protect my family…as well as this world and all those others." She smiled brightly, turning to Mary Anne. "You're doing your job as Guardian. You're protecting this place."

Fay stood, determination in her aquamarine eyes. "So I'm going to do my best too. I'll leave and find my own way." She'd planned to do it anyway, might as well get on it.

"Well said." Mary Anne jumped to her feet. "Although I don't think you'll have to do this all by yourself. I don't trust the factions because as far as I understand they're after you for one reason."

Fay nodded in understanding.

"However in those other worlds, although they may recognize you as someone special, if they don't know exactly who you are they won't be after you for it."

Mary Anne closed her eyes in thought. "I think…no, I do believe that those you meet first in those other worlds will be the ones you can trust. Exactly how much will be up to you." She opened her eyes, looked up at Fay. "Be careful though, they will follow, including The Fears. As for the crest, it'll always take you to whatever world holds a piece of itself. It'll grow warmer the closer you are to a piece of it, but you'll only be able to leave a world by the light of the full moon."

She walked a few steps away from Fay. "I guess it's a good thing you were planning to run away."

Fay shrugged. It was easier to run away from a problem than face it, in this case running away was looking to be the best option.

Mary Anne looked up into the dark sky once more. She'd been checking on the moon throughout their conversation, and knew that now was the time. She turned to Fay when the full moon cleared the trees. "Time for you to go."

The small piece in Fay's hands began to glow as Mary Anne spoke**.**

"**The terms have been accepted, the contract signed; now lead this soul through the worlds in search of thee."**

A beam of moonlight lit upon Fay and she vanished.

'Good luck kid.' Mary Anne thought, turning. "I'd say you're a little too late." She spoke to the tall figure that had come to a stop a few feet behind her.

His eyes narrowed. "How dare you interfere thnitos!" (mortal)

Mary Anne smiled smugly. "I did what I had too to keep the world I was charged with safe. I could care less about ruling it." Disdain was thick in her voice as she walked past him, then stopped when he snarled her name.

She glanced back in time to see a sphere of green lightning hurled at her. Her eyes grew icy and she slapped the attack away with the back of her left hand.

The sphere was hurled into the air, exploding into a shower of sparks. "Don't try me Dragon." Her tone was cold. "Mortal I may be, but let's not forget I know how to eradicate you and every faction from this world's existence." Dismissing him she sauntered away.

The dragon in human form hissed. He hated that woman, if there was one thing all the factions could agree in, it was in their hate for this small mortal woman. They'd like to believe they could easily crush her, but the truth was that she could easily crush them before they got within twenty feet of her. They would have to be cautious of her; at least until he had the Right in his hands, then she would be eradicated. However now she'd complicated things.

The Guardian had sent Fayre to another world, and his plans to rule this world and rid it, or at least enslave, those who had caused the death of so many of his kind, would have to wait…but only for a small while. He would rule and the Right would rule by his side. After all, she was his destiny.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Twining Fates **

"Okay, so we've been to San Diego, San Francisco, and Los Angeles; but we haven't found anything." Yusuke studied the map.

"Don't forget Monterey." Botan put in.

"Right." Yusuke crossed out the destination. "So, where should we go next?" he asked, eyes still on the map.

"It has occurred to me, detective, that this feels more like a road trip than an actual mission." Hiei spoke up, his manner irritated. "At this rate any demon could find this weapon and use it against us."

"I have to agree with Hiei." Kurama said, placing his cup down on the table.

Hiei sent him a glare. "You're one to talk; you've been doing the same thing they have."

Kurama coughed. "Well, the fact is that we have been searching."

"Hn!" Hiei turned away, his attention now on the large window next to him.

The group was sitting inside a Japanese coffee shop, looking over the 'Places to visit while you're here' map, they had on the table between them.

It had been two months since Keonma had sent them on this wild goose chase, as Hiei saw it. For once Yusuke hadn't minded how long it was taking. To him the mission felt more like a trip than anything else, as Hiei had pointed out, but he was sure this would only last so long, so he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

He'd even caught Hiei enjoying himself, although the fire demon had gone back to his sour self once he realized he'd been caught at it.

Yusuke picked up his coffee and finished it. "Okay, so what do we do next?" he asked. As if in answer to his question the communicator beeped and Botan answered it.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Koenma's terse voice came through.

"Yeah, you should send us on more missions like these, Koenma." Yusuke said with a grin.

Koenma glared, a vein on his forehead. "That's all well and good, but while you've been having fun I've been stuck here reading reports! I haven't been able to even take a break! Do you know how-"

"I've been stuck here too, Lord Koenma." Came George's voice.

"This is not about you ogre!" Koenma snapped.

"You could have a little more compassion; I haven't been able to take a bath, Sir."

"Hmm, is that what smells, you've been stinking up the office ogre! I've lost count of how many air spray cans I've used!"

"You don't exactly smell like a bouquet of roses either, Lord Koenma."

"What did you say!"

"Uhh…Koenma sir." Botan tried to regain his attention.

"What?" he snapped, then coughed as he remembered. "Oh, right; Ogre we'll deal with this later."

As Koenma turned back to them they could hear George complaining in the background.

Koenma continued. "As I was saying; it's been busy here. I've been getting reports of battles happening all over the place, battles that shouldn't have been happening. However when I send anyone to investigate all they find is some sort of warped space. I've already lost someone to it, it seems that whoever wasn't there when the battle took place and suddenly steps into that area is crushed, but that's all that's there to let us know the battle's happened, and yet I've had eye witnesses. Of course we've erased their memories afterward, but the question's still there, where did the combatants go?" He picked up a folder, opened it. "Not to mention how many demons have been trying to get through the barrier. At this rate I'm afraid of what may happen."

"Is there no one who can help us find this weapon's current location?" Kurama asked.

"Well…" There was silence as they awaited Koenma's answer. "There is…there is someone, but I'm a little wary of contacting her."

"Her? Who's this girl then?" Botan asked, her tone curious.

"Yeah and what can she do to help?" Yusuke wanted to know.

Hiei simply watched, silently awaiting the answer.

Koenma closed his eyes as he thought about his choices, which weren't all that many.

His father had called him in to report on the progress, and Koenma had known that his father knew the situation had not improved; in fact it had gotten worse. However, for some reason Enma had not gotten angry as Koenma had expected, he'd actually looked slightly worried and thoughtful. He'd then told Koenma that this problem was now fully in his hands, and he was expected to deal with it. Of course he'd also been told that his punishment would be seven hundred spankings if he failed. He could still remember the last time he got spankings; he was not going to go through it again.

"Hey Koenma! We're waiting!" Yusuke snapped him out of his reverie.

"Of course." Koenma answered, staring at the screen where he could see Yusuke peering over Botan's shoulder. "The person I could contact is known as The Guardian, and she guards over mid earth, where this war usually takes place."

"Well get her to help, then." Yusuke saw no reason not to ask.

"It's not that simple, Yusuke." Koenma replied. "Mary Anne…well she's not the easiest person to deal with. I think she's probably happy, or even somehow helped along, the fact that this war is no longer in her territory."

"What kind of cruel old hag is she?" Yusuke wanted to know, disbelief in his voice, and watched as Koenma almost spit out his pacifier. "Try telling her that Yusuke, I'd love to see you turned into a chicken."

The Prince of Spirit world snickered, thinking of a chicken with Yusuke's head. 'wonder if he could lay eggs?'

"Whoever she is I can take her!" Yusuke shouted, quieting when he noticed people staring at him strangely.

Koenma coughed, starting again. "The fact is Yusuke, that if we want her help, getting her mad wouldn't be the best option, but aside from that she hardly delves in anything that happens, whether in her world or any other unless it poses a serious threat."

"I believe this is enough of a serious thread for her to consider helping us." Kurama said.

"Hmmm…" Koenma thought. "You may be right, but still...we'll have to make it convincing or she won't even give us a clue."

Hiei suddenly stood. "Tell us where we can find this Guardian and leave it to me; I'll make her to talk."

Koenma shook his head. "You're the last person I would send Hiei, your people skills aren't exactly...the best." He said after a moment of hesitation.

Hiei narrowed his eyes in a glare directed at the Prince of Spirit World.

Koenma quickly went on. "It's a long shot, but I suppose at the moment we don't really have much else to go on. I'll set up a meeting, Kurama I want you to try talking to her." Kurama nodded.

"So how long are we supposed to wait for this meeting?" Kuwabara asked.

"Setting up the meeting isn't the problem." Koenma answered. "Actually it's not all that hard; her number is in the phone book." He muttered as the others sweat dropped. "It's actually getting the information out of her. She could very well have what we're looking for and won't hand it over for reasons unknown to us. Of course, it's unlikely that she does have it, but hopefully with Kurama on the case she'll actually give him something to go on." His decision made he nodded, his eyes closed. "I'll set up the appointment and get back to you in five minutes." The small screen went black and Botan closed it.

"Looks like we'll be counting on you, Kurama." Yusuke told to his friend.

"We know you can do it, just remember that the success, and maybe the safety of this world, may hang on the information you get..." Botan paused when she realized what she'd said, then laughed nervously. "But no pressure." She added quickly. Kurama's smile was mild although a sweatdrop appeared behind his head.

"We can always go to plan B." Yusuke suggested.

"If it means fighting a girl count me out." Kuwabara said. "Old hag or no, there's no way I'm fighting against a girl."

This comment led to an argument between Yusuke and Kuwabara. Botan, Kurama, and Hiei ignored it until the communicator rang again.

"The appointment's been set up." Koenma informed them. "She'll be waiting for you Kurama, at the Reimei Gardens near the suishou waterfall a few blocks from here, in ten minutes. Good luck."

The screen went dark and Kurama stood. "We should get going then." He picked up his coat, leading the way out of the Café.

The Reimi Gardens, or Dawn Gardens, were in the middle of this small town within a larger city. They were extensive and held three large waterfalls, the first known as the Suishou or Crystal waterfall.

Cherry blossom trees surrounded the pool it made, although at this time of winter the trees were bare. Within the circle of trees benches had been set up, one at each side of the pool, far enough not to get hit by the falling water, and near them hung electric lamps.

This is where Kurama found the small girl or what appeared to be a small girl at first glance, sitting on one of the benches. She didn't look any taller than Hiei, perhaps even a few inches shorter than him. "Guardian?" he asked hesitantly. The girl chuckled, surprising Kurama, although the emotion didn't reach his face.

"Aren't you the formal one. Mary Anne will do, and you're Kurama, right?" Kurama nodded as he stepped closer to her, his eyes quickly examining the small figure.

"You're not…you're not what I was expecting."

She chuckled again. "I'll take that as a compliment, I like to surprise people, and I know my reputations not the best," she left out that she helped it along herself, although Kurama picked up on it and smiled faintly. "But I'm really not an ogre." She glanced past Kurama. "You guys can join us, I won't bite." Kurama turned to look back, his smile turning slightly wry when he spotted Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Botan trying to listen in from behind some bushes.

As the three tumbled through the bushes towards them, Hiei landed next to Kurama, his gaze speculative as he looked at the Guardian.

"And you're the one we're supposed to be careful around?"

Mary Anne grinned, nodding cheerfully. "Sure am, you don't know when I'll suddenly summon a demon from the ninth hell."

The two tensed and Mary Anne burst out laughing. "Don't take it so literarily. I'd never summon a hell demon; we're not exactly on speaking terms. I killed their overseer, they kidnapped my little brother,' she shrugged. "Nowhere near water under the bridge."

The two relaxed as the rest of their friends joined them.

"My name's Botan, nice to finally meet you." The blue-hair girl introduced herself, extending her hand to the smaller girl. Mary Anne took it, shaking it enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you Botan, name's Mary Anne."

Yusuke glanced at Kurama and Hiei, then at Kuwabara, the expression on his face easy to read. 'This is the Guardian?'

Before any of the boys could question her she and Botan engaged in a conversation that revolved around Botan's job, Mary Anne's job, what they liked, favorite movies, what annoyed them and so on.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." Kurama interrupted, "But if you recall there is a reason for our meeting."

"Hm? Oh yeah." Remembering, Mary Anne turned to Kurama. "You wanted to ask some questions. Sorry, I tend to be easily distracted."

"Understandable." Kurama replied with a calm smile.

Mary Anne leaned back against the bench. "Koenma did say you wanted to ask me about something, so hit me."

"Don't play the fool human, the Right. We want whatever information you have on this weapon."

Mary Anne raised an eyebrow at Hiei's tone, meeting his glaring gaze with a cool one. Ice bergs seemed to drift between the two, but before any could crash into another, Kurama stepped in between them, breaking their eye contact. "Didn't Koenma tell you what this meeting was about?" he asked.

Mary Anne frowned, shaking her head. 'Koenma, you idiot.'

She could already picture him making a victory sign with his hands and a big grin plastered on his face. "He told me there was someone who wanted to talk to me, the fact that he failed to mention the subject did cross my mind." She sighted, scratching her head. "I don't get involved in these matters. As long as nothing is in danger of going supernova on my watch I'm happy."

"You mean to tell me that you'll just stand in the sidelines while some creep gets a hold of this weapon? What kind of guardian are you?" Yusuke demanded.

Mary Anne rubbed her ear. "You don't have to yell," she complained. "It's not in my job description."

"Constantly saving the world isn't in mine either," Yusuke snapped. "But I'm stuck doing it anyway."

Mary Anne stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "I'm sorry; I can't help you look for the Right."

Hiei moved forward, intent in his step, but Kurama stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. When he looked up Kurama shook his head.

"Please help." Botan appealed to her. "We're trying to do our best to keep an all out war from starting but for that we need your help."

Mary Anne opened her mouth then shut it, then shook her head. "Even I have restrictions, especially me." She muttered the last. "I'd help you look if I could but I'm likely to attract unwanted attention."

"Then please,' Kurama said, his gentle tone coaxing. "If you have any information, it would help us a great deal. We don't intent to utilize this weapon for our gains, but to safeguard it, for the sake of the worlds."

Her expression thoughtful, Mary Anne gazed first at Kurama, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan, and finally Hiei, who tried his best not to glare at her. She closed her eyes and thought. "I'm going to ask you a question, and answer it truthfully." She opened her eyes. "If you were to get a hold of the Right, would you really not use it for your own gain?"

"What for?" Yusuke answered.

"A real man doesn't need anything to get what he wants." Kuwabara's tone as he answered was staunch.

"Of course I wouldn't." Botan said.

"I have no need for such a weapon." Kurama answered.

"Neither do I." Hiei added.

There was silence, then Mary Anne spoke one word. "**Siopi."**The group caught a glimmer of light through the trees before it vanished. "I've cast a silence spell, no one will be able to overhear us, but you _must_ promise me you'll keep this information to yourselves, you can tell Koenma, as long as no one else hears, otherwise this must stay quiet."

"Of course." Kurama answered for them.

"The Right; what you seek is not a weapon but a girl. Shhh,' she added when she saw Yusuke open his mouth. He shut it and Mary Anne went on to explain to them what she knew about the right, although she left out her name and a few other points she believed they should find out on their own, though this she didn't tell them. Once she was done she stood. "I can't answer any of your questions and I have to get back to my post." She walked out of the light, turned halfway to look back at them. "She'll actually arrive in this world in about twelve minutes, I suggest you go back to where you were before and keep an eye out. I hope you can help her find what she's looking for, she deserves to choose her own fate." She didn't add that there was a time limit on that. She left then, vanishing into thin air.

"Wish I could do that." Yusuke was the first to speak after Mary Anne had left. "It would make lot of things easier."

"Well then," Botan said cheerfully. "I guess we should head back to the Café, don't you think so?"

"Agreed, Hiei, go on ahead." Kurama said.

The fire demon nodded and seemingly vanished. "We better hurry as well." Kurama led the way out of the circle of light, back the way they'd came.

'This should be interesting.' Botan thought as she followed the three boys. She briefly wondered how Mary Anne had been able to know when exactly this girl would arrive, but then shrugged it off, knowing beings like her could do things most others couldn't, including Botan.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Meetings**

Fay blinked, looking around. 'Where…am I?' this looked nothing like another world, actually, it looked a lot like an…'An alley?'

A trail of dust was all that was left after Fay realized where she had been.

'I've seen way to many movies where the girl gets attacked or killed in an alley, heck if I'm sticking around.' She rushed down the street and away from the 'alley of death' as she saw it.

Sh suddenly stopped as it hit her. 'I'm...I'm in a different world?' she thought to herself, looking around. The buildings were taller, there were more lights than she remembered but in all, this was almost identical to Japan Town, located in downtown. 'It…it can't really be…can it?'

Her heart began to beat faster at the thought. 'No wait, I didn't think this through enough!'

What the heck had she been thinking she could do alone in a different world? It had been so easy to say yes to what Mary Anne had offered, but now that she was actually here, Fay swallowed nervously. 'Relax,' she told herself, taking deep breaths. 'Maybe…maybe they made some remodeling and the whole spell thing didn't work.' Or maybe she really was in another world, albeit one that looked almost identical to her own world. Emphasis on almost.

Fay took off down the road once more, dodging people as she rushed past, going at a speed that was probably illegal on sidewalks. When a dog suddenly blocked her path she hastily jumped over it, half losing her balance as she landed on the front wheels of her rollerblades and stumbled around a sudden left turn, right into a body. 'Ouch!' Eyes closed she fell back on her butt, her hands on either side of her.

"I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized opening her eyes.

"It's quite alright, I believe I also share fault." The voice was male, soft, and easy to listen too.

Fay blinked a little dumbly as she took in the owner of the voice.

He was taller than her, had emerald eyes, red hair that fell past his shoulders; was dressed in a white shirt, dark green jacket, black pants and shoes.

He stood, offering her a hand up, breaking Fay perusal of him.

"Oh, thanks." She took his hand and stood, wondering if he would mind her starring at him a bit longer. Then everything came back in a rush; different world, the stupid idea she'd had that she could do this, and that more likely than not, the factions would be at her heels.

"Hey are you okay?" a girl with blue hair asked.

Wait a minute, blue hair? No one she knew had blue hair, at least not natural blue hair, and the girl's hair looked natural, although maybe it looked that way because it was dark here.

"I have to go." Fay let go of the hand she'd been clutching unintentionally and rushed past them. 'I'll go back to the park, I'm sure…I'm sure I'll think of something then.'

"Idiot! That's her!" Hiei snapped at Yusuke. "Hey I'm not the one who had her by the hand!" Yusuke defended himself.

"I wasn't sure at first," Kurama explained. "But yes, I believe that was her."

Mary Anne hadn't given them her description, although she had explained that they'd 'know' her when they encountered her.

"I don't get it." Kuwabara said. "What's going on?"

"That was her," Yusuke explained to his clueless friend. "The Right."

Kuwabara's eyes widened, he looked down the street. "She doesn't look anything like I'd pictured her, and wasn't this 'Right' supposed to be a weapon?"

Yusuke hit him over the head. "Didn't you listen to anything the Guardian said? She clearly said that the Right had a human form now."

"You don't have to hit me Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted back at him, then furrowed his brow in thought. "Oh yeah, I remember now."

"Well what are both of you waiting for? We're going to leave you behind!"

Both boys stared down the street where Botan was calling back at them over her shoulder as she ran after Kurama and Hiei.

"Hey, wait for us!" Both boys shouted, running after their friends.

'These street...' Fay took a corner. This is where Japan town ended. Apartments took the place of other buildings, followed by a railroad track and houses. However she came to screeching halt when she set eyes on the buildings. 'No…how can it be so different.'

There were in fact, more buildings, but they were much like those she had passed. No cream colored apartment buildings but stores, offices, restaurants.

The streets were even more crowded here so Fay quickly exchanged her rollerblades for shoes and slowly walked down the street, her gaze going from one building to another until she reached the place where the railroad should have been, however as she'd been dreading, it was not there nor did she think it had ever been there, and the changes didn't end there.

Even from here she could tell that what she knew as downtown was Japan town in this world, much like China town in San Francisco. Street signs, passing busses, even the homes looked Japanese, 'No reason not to believe now.' She thought, a black cloud above her as she sank into a depression, falling to her knees.

'I really am in another world, all of this is real, and I'm not going to wake up to find out a crazy girl decided to knock me unconscious.' Or she'd been rabid and had bitten her. "So…' she whispered quietly. "What the hell am I supposed to do now!" she shouted suddenly.

People passing her by on the street gave her a wide berth and Fay laughed nervously when she remembered where she was again.

"You're supposed to act normal." She whirled around to look at the speaker. 'Who the…' she looked up at the boy with jelled back hair. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Name's Yusuke, this is Kurama, the guy you almost ran over." Fay looked up at the one called Kurama and colored in embarrassment. "Sorry, I was in something of a panic." He smiled down at her. "It's alright, as I said, it was partly my fault as well." He offered her a hand up once more and she took it as Yusuke finished introducing the rest of his friends. "This is Kuwabara, that's Hiei, and that's Botan."

The blue-hair girl Fay had noticed before came forward to clasp her hands in both of hers. "Nice to meet you. So what's your name?"

"Fayre, but my friends call me Fay."

"Well it's nice to meet you Fay; we've been sent to protect you." Fay stiffened, disentangling her hand from Botan's. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

In the last week she'd had people tell her they'd protect her, but she couldn't get over the feeling that all they wanted was for her to drop her guard so they could get what they really wanted from her.

Seeing her wary expression Kurama stepped forward. "Don't worry, we've been sent by Mary Anne, as well as someone by the name of Koenma, trust us, they want nothing more than to help you, and so do we."

"That's right, you don't have to worry, I'll protect you from anyone who tries to harm you." The one known as Kuwabara stepped forward and, like Botan, clasped her hands in his.

'Okaaay.' She thought to herself. Fay ignored him while she thought it over, eyes half closed. Mary Anne had said she could trust those she first met, even if Fay was still a little skeptical over that particular piece of advice, they'd said Mary Anne had sent them and Fay didn't think the Guardian trusted a lot of people enough to give them as little as the name she went by in the magical circle. She finally decided.

Finally coming to a decision she nodded. "Well if Mary Anne sent you then I'll trust you." Fay said, even as she tried to take her hands away from Kuwabara's.

"So far she's the only one that's proven to be trustworthy, at least from my world." Her voice sounded tired as she thought about it; however she brightened quickly and with a glare at Kuwabara shoved him away from her.

"This means you'll help me find Destiny's Exchange, right?" her voice was hopeful.

"The what?" Yusuke asked.

"Didn't Mary Anne tell you about this?" she showed them the small piece of the crown. "It's supposed to be a crest. Mary Anne said that if I complete it, I can wish to stop being The Right and become a normal human, that'll mean that the factions will have to stop going after me." The group glanced at one another. "She…she didn't tell you, did she." Fay guessed.

"She told us your story." Yusuke explained. "And she told us what you were and that you should be arriving in our world soon, not much else."

'And she looked mad at Koenma.' Yusuke thought. 'Then she goes off and leaves important stuff out of the explanation too!'

"May I see it?" Fay hesitated before handing the crest over to Kurama. "You're sure that once it's completed it will grant you your wish?"

Fay nodded. "Positive, Mary Anne said that it would grant me any wish I desired, the catch being that its only one and I can't attach 'and' to it."

"I see." Kurama examined the crest. What he could tell that Fay could not was that this piece, even broken as it was, was very valuable, the energy radiating from it was powerful, although hidden well. He doubted anyone who didn't hold it would be able to tell, and then only if they knew what to look for.

"Here," He handed Fay back the crest and she returned it to hang around her neck, out of sight under her sweater.

"We'll help you." Yusuke told her. "I'm guessing it'll work on both sides. I mean, if these factions you're talking about don't have you to fight over everything will settle back down, right?"

"That's right." Fay's tone was sure as she spoke. "I am what they've been fighting over for a long time, but when I disappear they stop fighting, so this should work the same way."

"Great, then I'll contact Koenma with the information and we can start the search tomorrow, after all it's pretty late." Botan headed a few feet away from where they stood.

'Guess she's right.' Fay thought, finally realizing how late it was.

"Come on, we'll show you where we're staying." Yusuke headed back down the street, Fay following.

"So you guys are from around here?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, were from Japan, we just came here to look for you."

"Oh, I see, well your English is really good."

Yusuke stopped; starring at her while a not well repressed chuckle came from behind her. She turned to see Kurama smiling at her. "I'm afraid you've got it wrong, Fay, you see we're speaking our language, you're the one speaking ours."

Fay blinked dumbly a few times before her eyes widened. "Are you serious!" her surprise was apparent. "I've never taken Japanese before, heck the only language other than English I've ever spoken is Spanish, and that's because my mom would kill me if I didn't speak it."

Yusuke smirked. "Well you're speaking it now."

"Perhaps it has something to do with the crest, or Mary Anne foresaw this and cast a spell over you to help." Kurama suggested as they started down the street again.

Fay thought it over, then she shook her head. "No way; I would have noticed. I mean, I know I can't remember much of my past, and whatever powers I'm supposed to have aren't active, but I would know if a spell had been cast on me." Fay turned thoughtful. "Well now that I think about it, recently I have been speaking another language I didn't even know I knew."

"Then it's useless wasting time wondering about it." For the first time Fay paid full attention to the shortest of the boys in the group. Not that she could have dismissed him, something about his presence barred her from doing that, but he hadn't spoken to her at all, not even when they'd been introduced.

"What you should be concentrating on right now is how exactly you're going to find the rest of those pieces. You don't expect them to simply appear before you, do you?"

Fay's shoulders drooped. "No, Mary Anne did say that the piece I have will grow warm the closer I am to one of the other pieces, but that's it." She shrunk. "This is a whole world, the piece could take years to find."

Kurama placed a gentle hand on her shoulder; she looked up to meet his comforting gaze. "Don't worry; I'm sure that won't happen. We'll help you find the piece, it might take some time, but I don't believe it will take years."

Fay stared up at him, meeting his emerald gaze. She suddenly remembered her thoughts in between her panic not that long ago. 'He…he really is…' Realizing where her thoughts were headed, she blushed, stepping away and looking at anywhere but him. Thus she missed the sudden confusion that flashed across his eyes before it disappeared.

"Thank you, all of you." Fay bowed, remembering something she'd seen on T.V.

"You don't have to be so formal." Yusuke slung a friendly arm over her shoulders. "After all it looks like we'll be stuck together for a while."

Fay smiled. "Yeah I guess you're right."

"And don't worry, Fay; if Yusuke tries anything perverted just tell me, I'll give him a good lump or two."

"Hey, why am I the only one she's warned about!" Yusuke complained.

"Because you're the only one who'd try Yusuke." Botan said her tone stating it was obvious.

"This isn't giving her a good impression of me, Botan!"

Fay laughed, turning to Botan. "I don't think he'll try anything, after all he sort of reminds me of my brothers, though I'm not sure if it's the older ones or the younger one."

"Thanks a lot!"

Fay laughed again at Yusuke's expression. 'Yeah, probably the younger one.'

Abruptly she stopped her smile falling away, her body tensing. Yusuke's arm dropped away from her and he stepped up in front of her; Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara joining him while Botan stayed next to her.

"They found me, how could they have found me so quickly?" She whispered. They could at least give her a day!

Like her, she knew the others had felt the moment the battle field had been established. The people around them had vanished, the lights that had not gone out had taken on a sinister glow.

Footsteps sounded as someone calmly approached them, stopping underneath a street lamp. He was tall, taller than even Kuwabara.

He had wide shoulders incased in a faded blue men's dress shirt, a loosely tied black tie hung from his neck and down to his black pants; his shoulder length indigo hair hung around his face, bangs half covered his long black eyebrows and brown-grey eyes, he looked to be in his early thirties.

"To think, my dear,' he spoke, his voice cultured with a trace of an Italian accent in it. "That, that foolish Guardian would sent you all alone to an unknown world, come, let us leave this place and return to our own."

She saw Hiei and the others stiffen when they realized this stranger had dismissed them.

"I can assure you that won't be possible." Kurama said, voice cool. "She has consented to stay with us, and we've been sent to protect her from the likes of you."

"So I suggest you pay attention to us or you might not realize the exact moment of your death." Hiei's hand was on the hilt of his katana.

"I have no qualm with any of you." The man spoke. "I simply came to pick up Fayre; she doesn't deserve to be cast out from our world at the whim of a Guardian, a mortal at that."

"Hey!" Fay snapped, indignation in her voice. "That 'mortal' as you call her is the only person I trust that has some type of supernatural power and comes from my world, and she's trying to protect it so don't talk about her that way, and buzz of while you're at it!"

Yusuke smirked at the man. "You heard her, leave."

The man shook his head as if pained. "You truly hurt me, my beloved, to say such cruel things to me."

"She's not your anything." Kurama spoke this time, his voice still cool. "So I suggest you do as she's asked of you or we'll be forced to take action."

The man's eyes narrowed. "You should be the ones leaving; this has nothing to do with any of you." His eyes glowed momentarily, he grinned darkly showing fangs that slowly grew.

"You're a Werewolf." Fay stated.

The man bowed his head to her. "As The Right says, I am that. My name is Sandulf, and I have been sent to fetch you by my leader Bardulf, who is most keen to make your acquaintance."

"No!" Fay snapped, taking a step back.

"Don't worry, Fay," Botan whispered to her. "We won't let him take you."

"You should not make promises you cannot keep." Wind suddenly came to and whipped around Sandulf. He raised his right hand where they could see a ruby ring glittering. "Arise; Gudrock."

The ring shattered and on the wind transformed before them into a thick curtain of blood that thickened, turned into a whirlwind that fanned high up until it towered above the streetlamp.

Large thick claws dripping in blood appeared from within, followed by something between a hand and a paw, though in some places they could clearly see that the skin was either rotting away or missing entirely and only thick bones remained; the hand was followed by a rotting arm, the clawed paw/hand clutched the streetlamp, snapping it as if it were a twig.

The light went out; casting Sandulf into shadow, but other lights illuminated the creature that stepped out of the whirlwind of blood. It had no lips. Everyone could clearly see the skeletal jaws from which protruded row after row of large shark like teeth, the blood it stepped from still dripping from them.

Its body was massive although its upper torso, half rotted, even more so than its lower body, its large feet were clawed, the flesh loosely hanging from bones and what muscle was left; the eyes were missing, although it moved its head, appearing to look first at Sandulf then at them.

Fay gasped, almost choking as the information slammed into her. "I can't…how dare you...that's a ghoul from the sixth hell! How dare you tie it to you! Those creatures are nothing but an abomination!"

Wide eyed, Botan looked from the creature to Fay's suddenly pale face. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Fay's large eyes were not only on the creature but the blood that dripped from it, suddenly she began shaking.

"What the hell's going on, Fay!" Yusuke demanded looking over his shoulder at her.

Fay's hands shook as she brought them to her chest. "Those things can't be summoned, or tied to anyone unless they go through a dark ritual; a ritual which demands the death of a loved one, their body offered to the creature, and the blood of fifty newborns to seal the pact."

"You bastard!" Yusuke shouted, rage in his voice as he whipped around to glare hatefully at Sandulf.

"To sacrifice so many young ones for something so vile," Kurama's voice cooled more so in its rage.

Sandulf simply shrugged. "It was needed; besides, they were nothing but mortals, worth nothing more than dirt. As for my dear one, she was happy to give her life for our cause."

Fay wasn't sure when it happened; he'd moved so quickly, but suddenly Hiei was above the creature, striking at the neck with his katana, only to jump away and land between them and the creature when the blade broke in two.

"Hiei no! You can't hurt that creature with just any weapon!"

Hiei glanced at her, anger and determination in his face. "Then tell me how to defeat it, because I won't let it or him,' he pointed at Sandulf, "Leave this place alive!"

Fay found herself in agreement though never in her life had she wanted someone to actually die. Before she could speak, the creature snarled, slamming a hand into the place where Hiei had stood but was no longer there; instead he'd landed next to Kuwabara.

"Stay out of the way, it's my turn!" Kuwabara charged. He barely dodged the ghoul's fist then sliced at its arm. "What the!" His spirit sword had flickered out, much like a candle in a sudden draft, and Kuwabara found himself scrambling to dodge another swing.

The swing was suddenly stopped by Kurama's rosewhip. "Kuwabara, get out of the way!" Kurama's muscles strained as he fought to hold off the ghoul's attack.

Kuwabara scrambled back as Yusuke stepped in.

"My turn." Yusuke pointed his forefinger at the ghoul. "Spirit gun!" Energy burst from his forefinger, striking the ghoul on the chest. Kurama released it as it was hurled back into a building.

Yusuke turned to Sandulf, who looked calm and confident. "Your turn."

Sandulf smirked. "You think your simple trick has killed off my servant? Don't make me laugh; you're nothing but children playing at being adults. Do you know why it is that the world we come from was placed into a path of technology rather than letting it develop into magic or alchemy?"

"No, and I don't care; all I care about right now is kicking your ass!"

"Such foul speech, but I shall tell you, perhaps then you shall see the futility of your actions. It's because it was the first and therefore holds the deepest secrets of both darkness and light. It is the most powerful; all this other worlds, all this other earths are nothing but pale copies of true earth. Soon, very soon, we who have had to hide our existence from worms such as mortals shall rise and claim it as our own, as it was meant to be," he grinned, dark menace in the gesture. "The power that was locked away we will unlock and control, then the dimensional scope shall be ours to destroy or rule as we sit fit."

He snapped his fingers and the ghoul rose from where it had lain. "You dare to stand between us and that day, so you must die."

The creature rushed them, leaving footmarks on concrete that shattered underneath its feet.

"How!" Hiei grabbed Fay's arm, brought her down to his level. "How do we defeat this creature?" He wrapped an arm around her waist, jumping out of the way as the creature hurled its fists at them.

"Botan!" Fay shouted.

"It's okay." The blue-hair girl landed besides them atop a building, the oar she had been riding on in her hand.

"How, girl!" Hiei snapped his patience at an end. From below came Sandulf's laugh. "I'll tell you how," he called up at them. "You destroy my ghoul with The Right, with the weapon she used to be," he pointed up at her. "With Excalibur."

"Are you serious!" she heard Yusuke's disbelieving shout.

"Is it true?" Hiei asked.

Fay winced when she heard the ghoul's fist slam into a building, making it crumble, almost burying Kuwabara in it.

"Is it?" Hiei insisted. "Yes!" she snapped. "Yes it is! I'm sorry; I'm not a weapon anymore! I…I can't…" With a disgusted look Hiei let go of her. "Then you're useless." He jumped down to join the others.

Fay watched him go through bleary eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry." She whispered, falling to her knees, the backpack she'd carried with her slid to the ground, forgotten.

"Don't pay attention to him, he didn't mean it, really."

Botan tried to soothe her. "He's just mad and frustrated right now."

"No, he's right." Fay said scrubbing away tears. "I am useless in this form; I can't even use the powers I'm supposed to have."

Botan's stressed smile vanished as she looked back at the battle in time to see the ghoul snatch Kuwabara up and squeeze.

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Kuwabara screamed, struggling to get away.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke ran at the ghoul. "Let him go!" he shouted, bringing his fist forward.

"Shotgun!" he slammed fist after fist, again and again, once more sending the creature flying back, its hold on Kuwabara broken.

He landed on the ground, slowly standing after a few seconds.

"You alright, Kuwabara?" Yusuke called to him. "Yeah, thanks." Kuwabara replied. 'Thought I was gone for sure.' He winced in pain. It wasn't only that, as he was held in that tight grasp his senses had been on overload, the vibes coming of the creature had been so dark and vile, Kuwabara had cried out at the sudden contact.

"Get out of the way, all of you!" Hiei shouted. "I'll finish it with the Dragon of the Darkness!"

Hearing this Fay rushed to the edge of the building. "Hiei no!" she shouted down at him.

Hiei glared up at her. "What now, you stupid girl? Would you rather have us stand still and get killed by this monster!"

"Of course not but-dodge!" she shouted.

Hiei did so, right before the ghoul's fists slammed down where he had been.

"What then?" he asked, suddenly beside her.

"Darkness, don't use anything even remotely tied to darkness, it'll only strengthen him. Remember it's a denizen of the sixth hell." Hiei's face darkened in anger. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

The creature suddenly came to a halt, as if paralyzed. Their attention switched to it. "Kurama." Hiei stated smugly.

Fay frowned, glancing from the ghoul to the red head. 'Kurama…did that?'

Sandulf's eyes narrowed slightly at this sudden twist. "And exactly what,' he spoke slowly, "Did you do to Gudrock?"

"I implanted a shimaneki seed into it,' Kurama said. "And now this ends." Flowers burst into life, covering the ghoul up completely.

"Go Kurama!" Botan cheered from besides Fay. Hiei smirked glancing at Fay. "It's over." He said although the troubled expression on her face unsettled him, even if he didn't show it.

"Kurama." Fay whispered her eyes growing large with fear. No, this wasn't over, she knew what was coming, the knowledge hit her, and she knew she couldn't let it happen.

She suddenly jumped off the building, surprising both Hiei and Botan.

"Fool! What are you doing!" Hiei jumped after her, then dodged the sudden lance of blood that tried to strike him in the chest, this slowed him enough that he knew he couldn't catch her in time.

"Kurama, the girl!" he shouted down. Kurama looked up in time to catch Fay as she slammed into him; he lost his balance and fell back.

"Stop!" The panicked order came from Sandulf, directed at the ghoul that with a roar of anger, freed itself from the flowers, hurling its claws much like missiles, at Kurama, while he sent lances of blood at the rest of the fighters.

However his order came too late.

"Kurama!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted before they realized what had happened. Shock widened their eyes as they gazed at the scene before them.

Instead of Kurama being impaled by the projectiles, it was Fay who they had hit, her landing atop Kurama. Blood seeped in rivulets from her body as her eyes began to dull.

"Why!" Kurama demanded as he sat up, clutching Fay to him. Fay coughed up blood, attempting a weak smile, one that turned into a wince of pain. "I remembered…its claws…they're…poison they…once they target someone…" She convulsed, causing blood to flow more quickly.

"Stop, you shouldn't speak anymore."

Fay stared at him, her eyes becoming duller by the second. "They don't stop until…until they strike flesh."

"You idiot!" Yusuke shouted at the girl. "We're supposed to be protecting you! Not you us!"

Botan landed next to them. "I'll try…I'll try to heal her, or at least stop the bleeding." She knelt beside the fallen girl, her hand beginning to glow.

Sandulf cursed. This wasn't good, The Right dying; it was the worse type of scenario. It was a sure death sentence for him. 'Stupid female!' he thought angrily. 'How dare you choose such a weak form to return as; and with so many weak and pathetic emotions!' It was the ruination of all their plans, everything they'd slaved over for so many years. He was dead.

"I...I can't." Botan cried, she was pouring all the energy she could into the healing, but it wasn't working.

"Enough." Kurama placed his free hand over hers.

She looked up at him. His face was in shadow, spirit energy swirled around him, turning violent when Sandulf suddenly let out a crazed laugh. "You fools! Had you simply handed her over this would never have happened! Now you've ruined it all, all of it!"

Sandul's face had changed, his jaws elongated, indigo fur had began to cover all his body. His clothes ripped as his form shifted to that of half man half wolf. "I shall kill you all, yes I shall, and then I will tell them there was nothing I could do, you might as well have murdered her!" he screeched at them in the same crazed tone, one that had turned deep and rough, half bark of a wolf half sound of a human voice.

"You're the one that's going to die you bastard!" Yusuke shouted, rushing him.

"Yusuke!" Kurama's cold voice stopped him. He looked back.

Kurama gently picked up Fay, placing her in Kuwabara's arms, his form as he straightened changing to that of Youko Kurama.

"You die now werewolf." Youko spoke coldly. All Yusuke felt was air rushing past him, as he whipped around he saw Sandulf impaled in the chest by Youko's arm.

"Fool." Sandulf gasped, falling to his knees. "Now deal with a ghoul who has no Master." He went limp as Youko extracted his arm from the werewolf's chest.

"Yes, it will die next."

The ghoul had finished striping the flowers from its body, and now turned to snarl at the group, one difference that was noticeable was the red glow in its otherwise empty eye sockets.

With a roar it charged Youko, who easily dodged it, using his rosewhip to slash a deep gauge in the creatures' flesh. The sound of bone snapping reached them before they saw the ghoul's arm dangle at an impossible angle, this pronounced by the inhuman roar of rage and pain coming from the ghoul.

"Silence you pathetic worm." Came Youko's voice. He stood to the ghoul's left, his demon eating plant around him. The ghoul turned to face him, the plants attacked, clamping themselves to flesh and bone.

The ghoul swung itself about, thrashing in an effort to rid itself of the plants. "Kill him." Youko ordered.

The plants went to work, but as blood from the ghoul splashed on to them they began to wilt and fall quickly witling. Youko's eyes narrowed, watching as blood seeped out of the ghoul, more so than such a creature should have had.

Then it laughed, looking at Youko with the red glowing lights in its sockets.

It grinned, the expression twisted, evil. "How very interesting, is it not, how much power and determination you beings gain when someone you know dies, how interesting, and how pathetic. Not even the power you posses will destroy me, fox demon, no; the only thing, the only being who could banish me is not here, and the only one who could kill me no longer lives."

Youko whipped around, looking at the small figure in Kuwabara's arms.

She was pale. Youko couldn't pick up the sound of breathing or a heartbeat coming from her.

"It has worked out well for our side, although The Right would have made it simpler to take over all your pathetic planets, this way there is nothing to destroy us, hinder us, in our conquest."

"Shut up you stupid ghoul!" Yusuke shouted. "We're still going to kill you! Don't doubt that for a second!" His energy began to roil around him while black energy swirled around Hiei.

"Try, you insignificant beings, try!" It roared.

Yusuke gritted his teeth, but instead of charging he looked at Kurama. His gaze was on the unmoving figure. He tensed, slowly returning his gaze to the ghoul. "You will die as Yusuke said; don't doubt for a second that it will not happen."

The ghoul laughed, swinging its broken arm at Youko, who dodged it easily by jumping up high, a plant sword brimming with power in his hand. He slashed down and for a moment things seemed to slow down.

Yusuke, Botan, Kuwabara, and Hiei watched as the blade sliced through the thick neck of the ghoul, as if cutting through butter, then everything sped up and Youko stood a few feet from the ghoul as it stared at him, the light in its sockets beginning to dim.

"How…" it croaked before blood spurted, its neck slid away from the rest of it, turning to dust before it hit the floor, the body collapsing into a pool of black poisonous blood that vanished before it touched Youko's feet.

The sword he held turned into light that flashed away. Without a word Youko took Fay's body from Kuwabara.

At any other time, Yusuke knew he wouldn't be the only one asking how Youko had managed what he had, however at the moment, silence reigned as they watched the still figure in Youko's arms.

"What…' Botan sniffed and tried again. "What now?" she asked.

"We need to report this to Koenma." Youko slowly began to change back into Kurama. "Perhaps he can do something."

The still form in his arms suddenly warmed, her mouth opening as she gasped for air, her heart beating strongly once again, the wounds already closing.

"You're alive!" Botan, Yusuke, and Kuwabara chorused.

Wide eyed Kurama and Hiei watched as she coughed, her eyes slowly opening. "Hey guys." She winced. "Man, I thought I was dead for a moment there."

Fay tried to sit up, winced again at the pain. "Don't move, you'll open your wounds." Kurama ordered. Fay stilled.

"How is it that you're still alive when by all rights you should be dead?" Hiei asked, trying to hide the perplexed tone in his voice. Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded, wanting the answer to that as well.

"Well," Fay closed her eyes as she tried to remember. "I definitely remember the pain of those claws. After that everything gets fuzzy, at least to the part where I stood up."

Fay explained how she'd opened her eyes and stood only to realize that her body was in Kuwabara's arms, blood no longer seeping.

She'd been about to panic when she'd seen a silver-hair…well fox man, killing Sandulf then fighting the ghoul. She'd watched, unsure of exactly what to do until the silver-hair man had looked back at her body in Kuwabara's arms.

That's when it had come to her. What the ghoul had said was true, only she in weapon form, could destroy it. So she'd let memory take over and her spirit had taken form in Youko's hand.

That's why he'd tensed; he'd sensed the energy that the blade had been created with. Instinctively he'd known he could kill the creature with it, however before he'd had a chance to examine it closely, the energy was gone.

"That was you?" Kurama asked surprised.

"Yeah." Fay rested her head against his chest. "I'm the Right, I may not remember much of my past,' actually she hardly remembered anything at all, "but I remember that I can't be easily killed, the body I'm in can be harmed and be caused pain, but it's part of me so my body will heal. Just as long as the body isn't destroyed and I have enough energy to heal from wounds such as…as…this." she yawned, falling asleep almost immediately.

Yusuke whistled. "Wish I had that kind of power." There was relief in his voice.

"Yes, it is impressive." Kurama said.

The battle field dissipated, everything around them returning to normal; people walked past them talking to their companions, others walked into stores, the buildings and streetlight were restored to normal.

They felt a sudden weight, as if what Koenma had described had happened before in other locations would happen here, then a ripple of blue light passed over them and the world settled back to normal, although it seemed as if only they had felt it.

Botan let out a relieved sight. "It didn't happen here."

"Yeah, maybe it has something to do with her." Yusuke said with sudden insight.

"That's quite an epiphany, Yusuke." Kurama said, a smile back on his face.

Yusuke grinned. "I have my moments, can't say the same for Kuwabara though."

"Say that again, Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted in his face.

"Now you're going deaf, Kuwabara? I said…"

As the two started an argument that changed into a wrestling match, Kurama started down the street, Fay in his arms, Hiei on his left.

"We're going to leave you two behind!" Botan called back.

"You could tell us before you're almost out of sight!" Yusuke shouted running after them, leaving behind a beat up Kuwabara. "Wait Urameshi, this isn't over yet!" Kuwabara shouted, picking himself up and running after his friends.


	8. Side Story: Down the Rabbit Hole

Note: I haven't posted in a while and I blame it on writer's block, so while I try to move the block, I thought I'd put up something else that came to mind. Call it an interlude or side story. So without further ado I present Yu Yu Hakusho in wonderland.

*****************************************************

PART ONE: Down the rabbit hole

So much had happened in one month. Fayre or Fay, as her friends called her, yawned and lay back on the couch.

The brown hair girl sat between Kurama and Hiei, the only two in the room, besides Touya who stood leaning against the wall on the other side of the room, that weren't taking part in the game that had started as a simple question.

'Well after all that's happened they deserve some free time.' Fay thought. Today marked one week, one week that no one from the faction nor Mary Anne for that matter, had shown up to try and kidnap her and cause everyone trouble. She supposed that they should be taking this time to look for the pieces of Destiny's Exchange, but it was pouring outside, curtailing much of a chance for a search.

Her eyes slowly closed but a burst of laughter from the others in the room woke her.

"If you're tired it's best you get some sleep where it's quieter." Kurama told her. She looked to her right and smiled up at the red head. "Thanks but I think I'll stay here a little while longer." Kurama nodded. "As you wish." His gaze stayed on her for a moment longer before returning it to the open book in his hands.

Fay stretched and watched as Chuu walked back into the room, a large bottle of what could only be wine (or was that run, she really couldn't tell) in his hand. "Alright, when's my turn!" he hiccupped and stumbled as he sat.

"Chuu you better stop drinking so much." Rinku told his friend.

"Or at least bring a bucket with you." Yusuke added.

Chuu launched himself across the circle they sat in at Yusuke, scattering all the cards in his wake. "Let's see if you say that after I beat you into the ground." Chuu spoke loudly trying to pull Yusuke into a headlock.

Fay couldn't help but chuckle at their antics. "Come join us Fay!" Botan called form her place. "At least with you here they'll behave themselves." Before Fay could answer, the door slid open and Genkai stepped in. "If you make a mess of this room I expect you to clean up!"

Everyone started talking at once trying to get Genkai to join their game. 'What was the game again?' Fay tried to remember, she was pretty sure that she'd be getting sucked into it soon enough. However as she tried to recall her eyes slowly closed, catching herself she opened them but found herself wavering between sleep and wakefulness until sleep won and her eyes closed, her body slumped forward and would have hit the ground had Hiei not caught her.

**************************************

With a yawn Fay woke up, noticing that the sound of rain had stopped. "Hey everyone the rain-" she looked around as she stood from the couch she'd been laying .

No one was in the room with her and although it had been early morning, now it was dark outside.

'Wow, I was definitely tired.' Fay shivered and walked over to the sliding door leading out. 'Someone must've left it open.' She grasped it but then stopped, her eyes narrowing. 'Who…who's that.' In the distance she could see someone waving at her, her red coat fluttering in the wind. 'Mary Anne!' Fay bolted through the door and jumped onto the grass running towards the figure. "Mary Anne wait! Have you decided to-"

Fay stopped when she noticed the figure running away from here, but as soon as she stopped the figure turned back and waved for her to follow. Whatever was going on Fay wanted to know and Mary Anne obviously knew.

Perhaps at this point in time, Fay would later muse, she should have stopped and wondered why'd she'd followed the small Guardian, but said small guardian had never given her any reason for mistrust.

At the age of twenty-three, Mary Anne looked more like a kid than a young adult and was a few inches shorter than even Hiei, still she was a force to be reckoned with and it was because of her that Fay had managed to find so many friends set on helping her.

As such when Mary Anne waved her to follow Fay didn't hesitate and followed her, plunging into the forest when the girl leading did the same. "Come on Mary Anne what's going on?" Fay called as she stopped her breath coming quickly.

Hands on knees Fay caught her breath then straightened looking around for the girl, but the Guardian was nowhere to be seen. Fay groaned and was about to turn back when she spotted him.

Wide eyed she could only stare as the person she'd come to know as Koenma, in toddler form, ran past her, an old pocket watch in his hand.

Perhaps that itself wouldn't have been very strange, if it hadn't been for the fancy silver best he had over his usual clothes, the rabbit tail on his behind, and the large white rabbit ears on his head where his hat should have been. He rushed past her, his eyes on the watch.

"I'm late! If I don't get there in time the Queen will have my head!"

Fay stayed silent and watched him banish through the trees, only then did she snap to her senses.

"Wait, Koenma sir!" she called and ran after him. 'What's going on, he looked so weird.' She thought. If they were rehearsing some play, no one had bothered to tell her, but she did wonder what they'd given Keonma to get him to wear those ears. 'Yusuke must be laughing his head of.'

Fay thought with a grin.

She spotted Koenma rushing into a small cave and stopped before it. 'Why do I get the feeling this should all ring a bell?' Fay thought to herself as she peeked into the hole.

Light from the moon streamed from a few holes above it; illuminating the furry tailed figure as he banished down the long tunnel.

Fay pulled her head back and looked around at the silent forest. 'Well in for a penny…' she ducked into the tunnel and crawed forward. 'And this goes on the list of the dumbest things I've ever done.' She shook her head to rid her hair of the leaves that had stuck there. Finally she stopped when a dead end presented itself a few feet ahead.

'Wait a minute how-' she never finished the thought as beneath her the ground suddenly gave way and with a startled yelp Fay found herself falling down a hole, but instead of the quick drop she'd expected, Fay found herself floating gently down amidst unsigned paperwork, old bottles of sake, rose petals, impossibly large snowflakes, and discarded yo-yos. 'This has to be a dream.' She thought and wondered what she'd eaten that had rewarded her with it.

Still, it felt too real to be a dream. "Oof!" she exclaimed when she finally landed on a sofa soft with rose petals. 'Well at least that's over.' She thought and looked around. There was only one way forward, to her left there was a corridor with doors on the right wall and with a shrug she walked down it to the last door facing her, but when she got there realized that somehow she'd gotten taller or the hallway had shrunk in size. Faye had to duck down to enter through the door in front of her but once inside she found herself to be back to the right size, or this latest room was larger than the last.

Actually she'd seen this place before; it was Koenma's office, except much rounder, and in the middle his desk stood. Fay took a step forward then halted when one of the desk drawers moved, stopped, moved once more and then slid open.

A hand appeared from it, followed by another, then both hands lifted a brown hair head out and the body followed.

The person that set foot on the ground was dressed in a white school uniform, her bow pink, atop her head mouse ears twitched, and a mouse tail swished behind her. "Keiko?" Fay asked, once more her eyes were wide and her mouth had fallen open.

The girl whirled around (and yes it was definitely Keiko, Fay thought) eyes wide as she spotted her. Keiko grasped something from the desk and brought it to her mouth, taking a large bite from it. With a poof of pink clouds Keiko banished, or so Fay thought until she looked down and watched a tiny sized Keiko (who was running on all four feet much like a mouse) scurry to a wall covered by an old grey curtain. She ducked behind and banished. With a firm shake of her head Fay followed and lifted the curtain.

There was a very small door there and the handle was carved like….like…"George?"

Fay asked her tone puzzled. The door handle yawned and opened his eyes then promptly started crying. "You couldn't have given me a better part? No, I have to be the door handle!" he cried. "I should have become a lawyer, like my mom wanted me."

Fay sweatdropped. "Uhhh…sorry." She apologized uncertainly.

"Doesn't matter, at least I'm not a doormat." George sniffed and looked up at her. "Let me guess, you want to go through." Fay nodded. "Well you can't in your state, you're way too big."

'That's a new one.' Fay thought wryly. "If you want to go through you'll have to eat those over there." Fay glanced back and startled. "That wasn't there before." She let go of the curtain and walked to the small round glass table that now stood in the middle of the room. On top of the table stood a see through bowl where fruits rested; apples, bananas, oranges, berries, strawberries, grapes, and one bitten apple.

With a slight frown she looked around. "Where….where did the desk go?" she asked out loud. 'And how did Keiko get out of it.' For that matter Fay would have liked to know how'd Keiko gotten into it.

Fay picked up the bitten apple. "What are you doing?!" she looked down at the George door. For some unfathomable reason the curtain was now raised high above. "I'm taking a bite of it." She explained with a roll of her eyes. "That's stupid, why would you want to get bigger?" A frown appeared between her brows. "What do you mean? Keiko ate it and became small."

If George could have shaken his head Fay was sure he would have. "She's a mouse, of course she has to eat something big, if she didn't then she would get taller." Fay's eyes darkened in puzzlement. "Wait…what?" she asked. George blew out an exasperated breath.

"She's a mouse, so she has to eat something big, if she'd eaten something small then she would simply have gotten bigger, but you're not a mouse which means you have to eat something small if you want to get smaller."

'If I think about it I'll get a headache.' Fay thought. Only the last part of that explanation had made any kind of sense. "Okay so a berry?" she asked placing the apple down and reaching for the small blue berries.

"I told you it has to be something small not something tiny, it'll just make you grow." Fay's hand twitched as it stopped before reaching the berry. "But you just said…" she started through gritted teeth. "Never mind, eat a grape." George told her.

Fay decided simply not to go into it and picked up a grape, popping it into her mouth. 'This doesn't taste like a grape.' She thought even as she felt herself shrink. 'Who'd ever eat a grape that tasted like broccoli?' though it would be a great way to trick kids into eating their vegetables.

Fay steadied herself as she shrank down and turned to George. "There now I can go in." George shook his head. "You forgot one thing."

'What now?" Fay gritted.

"The key." George looked up and Fay followed his gaze. "That wasn't there before!" she accused pointing up. "Well of course it wasn't, you didn't need it before did you?" Fay's eye twitched. "How am I going to get to it?" she asked feeling as if she were running out of patience.

"Well how everyone else would, you eat a cookie." Fay whirled to look to where George was now looking. Sure enough where nothing had been before (and she knew it hadn't been there before!) there was now a glass case with a lid, and within it there were cookies that spelled out in small bonbons the words 'eat me.'

Grumbling Fay walked over to it, lifted up the lid and picked up one of the cookies.. "If this does something other than what it's supposed to do I'm kicking you George." She warned.

George laughed nervously. "Now when have I ever misled you?" He tried to reassure you. With a final glare Fay took a bite of the cookie and once more found herself growing. "See I told you." George said his voice accusatory.

Fay picked up the key and ate a grape, bracing herself for one more ride down. 'Top Gun's got nothing on this ride.' She thought wryly.

She stayed still for a moment then walked over to George. "Okay now, though I never thought I'd say this,' she muttered aside, "Open your mouth George."

George did as directed and Fay placed the key to the lock then twisted. "Ogh!" George winced. With a frown Fay tried again only to come up with the same results. She took the key back and glared at George. "Why isn't it working?" she asked, her tone a warning. "You got the wrong key." George complained. "You're supposed to get the silver key not the golden one."

Fay glowered (rather well since she'd been taking lessons from Hiei) at George. "You either open yourself up this moment or I turn you into matchsticks." Her voice was soft but dangerous (something she'd picked up from Kurama) George steatdropped and laughed nervously. "Oops, it was the right key, silly me."

There was a click and the door swung outward, revealing another long passage. "Thank you George." Fay said cheerily and sauntered through the opening and down the hall. Behind her the door closed and Fay found herself in a dimly lit passage, the flame of the candles mounted on holders flickering from a nonexistent wind.

Fay stepped up her speed; it wasn't as if she were scared of the darkness, but in this crazy place who knew what could happen.

Up ahead she finally caught sight of light and sped up once more, rushing through an arch into impossibility, or so she believed.

Around her what looked like huge stalks of glimmering green grass swayed in the wind, small (Yet still much larger than her) white three petal flowers accompanied the grass in its windy dance. 'What is this?' she thought taking a step into the forest of grass.

The wind smelled of sweet grass and the beginnings of spring.

Her brown hair swayed around her, her bangs falling into her eyes.

She swept them aside and took a deep breath, her aquamarine eyes taking in the scene around her. 'Now if I could just get bigger.' She thought, slowly walking through the large stalks and pushing others aside, as she did she couldn't help but feel as if she were running her hands over silk.

Fay stepped into a small clearing surrounded by the large grass blades, while in the middle stood a large purple mushroom and four smaller ones going from pink, yellow, red, and green; all leading up to the large mushroom, as if stairs themselves.

What had her eyes widening (and this wouldn't be the last time she believed) was the figure perched atop the large mushroom. "Genkai?" she whispered softly.

Except that the Genkai she remembered didn't look so much like a caterpillar and didn't smoke from a hookah of all things, although on closer inspection Fay saw that it wasn't smoke Genkai was uh…smoking, but what could only be mist the color of her hair.

"Uh…excuse me, Genkai?" The caterpillar dressed up as Genkai turned. "About time you got here." She complained. "You were expecting me?" Fay asked.

"I've never met you before now." Genkai answered. "But you're here and I don't like to be kept waiting."

'Riiight.' Fay drawled silently to herself. "Can you tell me where I am?" Fay asked instead. "I seem to have gotten completely turned around, originally I was following Koen…no wait, Mary-"

"Pah!" Genkai interrupted her. "You should know that introducing yourself when you meet someone new is polite, you may know me but I've never met you." Fay pursed her lips, took silent breaths and nodded.

"Now, who are you?" Genkai asked between puffs. "Fay or Fayre, whichever one you want." She answered. Genkai shook her head. "That makes no sense, you're either Fay or Fayre, but that's not what I meant when I said to introduce yourself. You may be young but you must know who you are." Once more puzzled Fay hesitated in speaking.

"Who are you called?" Genkai asked. Fay shook her head. That didn't sound correct to her. "Your past girl!" Genkai snapped loudly, startling Fay into looking up at her. "Who you are is your past, your present, who you will be. Without knowing your past how can you know who you are now? You can't tell me that you don't know what you are?"

Fay could feel her eyes start to whirl in confusion.

'Didn't she just ask me what my name was?' she thought. "Fayre, Fayre Darnell." Fay finally said firmly. "That's who I am." Genkai waved it aside. "That is nothing but packaging labels."

'What?' A vein appeared on the side of her forehead as her eye twitched. 'Did she just call me?' Ignoring her anger Genkai took a deep puff of mist and let it out, slowly it began to snake itself around her form. "If you don't know who you are then you will never reach who you want to be."

"I go by Fay, I am she. Now can you just tell me how I could get a little taller?" Fay asked trying to move the conversation away from things she didn't understand. "Three inches tall isn't the best height." Genkai puffed mist out in a huff. "What's wrong with three inches? It's a very good height."

Fay let out a frustrated breath. "For you of course it is, but I want to be taller, at least the height I used to be, nothing else."

Her gaze suddenly narrowed as she realized that the mist had almost completely covered Genkai. "If that's what you want fine; the right will make you bigger, the left will make you smaller." The mist blocked out her face and silence fell. "Of what?" Fay asked tentatively.

"The mushroom dimwit!" Genkai snapped as she pushed through the veil of mist, this time looking more like herself except for the butterfly wings. Without another word she fully spread her wings and flew of high into the sky.

'Ah, the mushroom.' Fay thought and took a piece of the right then the left. She looked at both of them then took a bite of the piece from the right. Once more she found herself feeling the sensation of shooting up really fast then coming to a sudden halt. Finally back to her own height Fay put the small pieces of mushroom in her skirt pockets and looked at her surroundings.

She hadn't noticed but the trees in this place were, well as strange as everything else. The bark was a rich light brown while the leaves were a glimmering blue hue. 'Wow.' Fay thought looking up at the trees.

She stepped of the grass and finally looked down realizing she was on a path leading up to a manor of a light peach color. 'That looks normal enough.' Fay sprinted down the path and stopped as she neared. 'I may have jumped to conclusions.' She thought when she saw the carriage pulling into the driveway. The carriage seemed to be made, of all things, tofu while instead of horses, four clowns pulled at it….four clowns that as soon as they stopped whipped out mirrors and began admiring themselves.

Never before had Fay wanted a good dose of reality (normal reality) as she did now. 'I'll just sneak around them.' She thought doing just that. Thankfully they were too busy admiring themselves to notice as she slipped past them and took the few steps to the door. 'Please have normal people, please have normal people.'

She prayed fervently and knocked, then knocked again. "I'm on this side you know." Fay whirled around and sighted in relief. "Kuwabara! I'm so happy to see you….in…..footman…clothes." she finished.

"You're the one that put me in them!" Kuwabara complained loudly. "Couldn't I be something better?" then he snickered. "Well at least I'm not Chuu." Fay tilted her head and stared at him, confusion in her eyes. "What?" There was a sudden crash from inside that had Fay jumping. "Like I was saying, I'm on this side so it wouldn't make any sense for you to knock and expect me to answer it." He grumbled, then brightened. "But if you want to go in and then knock from there I could let you out."

Fay scratched her head. "But I uhh…don't want to go out, I want to go in." Kuwabara's shoulders slumped and he sat back down on his stool. "Well it was just a thought. Anyway if you want to go on-"

There was more noise from inside, the sounds of a baby's crying and glass crashing down. "In you'll have to open the door yourself; they'll never hear you knock in there." He stretched on his stool and leaned back. Fay opened then closed her mouth, realizing it was too late to tell Kuwabara not to lean back…into the bushes. "Need any help?" Fay asked. "No I'm fine!" Kuwabara called from within his tangle. "It's not the first time this has happened."

With a shake of her head Fay turned back to the door and opened it. Oddly enough as she closed the door behind her silence reigned within, at least until the tall figure in the long blue Victorian gown, complete with long puffy sleeves and pink bonnet, tilted and crashed into the table, making the plates stacked on it crash to the ground and shatter.

"Excuse me?" Fay asked as she stepped closer. The tall figure held a bundle that let out upset shrieks while on the other hand she held a bottle of whisky. 'The way it's going it'll probably be Yusuke and his mom.' She thought. Except that the woman's figure was, well too tall, too large, the shoulders were definitely too wide for it to be her. "Uh excuse me!" she called more loudly. The figure turned. Fay couldn't help it, her mouth fell wide open (she thought it might even have hit the ground) for a moment before she snorted with suppressed laughter that quickly broke free. Fay backpedaled, tripped on her own feet and fell to the ground, her arms across her stomach.

"Hasn anyone taught you it's not polite to laugh at a blocke?" Fay fell on her back, her laughter rising, tears running down her face. She couldn't believe it! Chuu dressed as a woman (and not a very nice looking one) he even had what had to be red lipstick, or what remained of it that wasn't on the whisky bottle, mascara was clumsily scattered on his cheeks and clumps of what had to be (it just had to) eye lash make up on the, obviously, fake eyelashes, and that dress! The blue dress had small buttons down the front and many were missing, while others were just not buttoned up because of how taut it was across his wide chest. "Please,' laughter, "Please tell me,' more laughter, "You have a camera." Fay snorted and burst back into laughter.

"Ain't got one, and if you're just goin to laugh you might as well hold him, catch." Chuu threw her the small bundle and her laughter dissolved as she hurried to catch the small bundle. "You don't throw babies, Chuu." She scolded.

"This baby's made of sturdier stuff." He said his tone slurred. "You look after him now."

He turned and stumbled deeper into the house, grumbling under his breath. Fay shook her head at his retreating back and peered down at the baby. "Wait a minute you're-" the 'baby' flew out of her arms and into the air, glaring down at her. "While I appreciate the part you gave him," he pointed over his shoulder to where Chuu had been. "I'd much prefer being something other than a baby." Shishiwakamaru scoffed, turned and flew off. "Wait, how do I get out of here?!" Fay called after him. "Ask the Cook!" he called over his shoulder as he too banished.

'The Cook.' Fay turned and looked down a corridor. It looked like it led to a kitchen….she hoped. 'One way to find out.' Fay thought as she walked towards what she hoped was a kitchen.

'Why do they keep blaming me for it?' she thought a little annoyed. It wasn't like she'd picked out their parts or she would have been laughing her head off long before this. Fay stepped into a small old fashioned kitchen, one where there was no stove but a hearth where a pot hung and wood waited to be lit. "Is anyone here?" she called.

"I can hear you just fine." She couldn't help it, her eyes widened as the tall figure wearing an apron stepped through a door, buckets full of icy water in both hands. "Kuronue?" her tone was incredulous. "You're the cook?"

He smirked down at her. "Who else? Frankly I think my part could have been a better one, but this one will do, at least I'm not wearing a dress." He said looking at her over his shoulder as he walked to the hearth and sat the buckets on the ground. Fay grinned. "Yeah, you're right, so am I in some kind of weird dimension I can't remember being kicked into or- hey!" Kuronue had flung of the apron and grabbed her hand pulling her against him. "If it is; what do you say we get out of here and find us our own secret hideaway?" He placed her hand around his waist and leaned down, taking advantage of Fay's surprised state..

"Or you could get your hands of her,' a silence, "Now." The softly whispered yet dangerous voice advised. Fay snatched herself away from Kuronue, eyes glaring, then turned to the newcomer

"You again!" Fay exclaimed.

The white kitsune; the only one dressed like she remembered him; tall, as tall as Kuronue, long silver white hair, golden eyes, and a voice she could swear she'd heard somewhere else and not just once but on a usual bases, to bad she couldn't pin it down.

The first time she'd come to their world, while she was in a semi-dead state and her soul had been free-floating, she'd seen him, since then she'd seen him a few other times but hadn't yet asked the others who he was, although she'd heard him being called Youko; and for some reason he seemed to think of her as his property.

He smirked down at her, his long fox tail waving behind him. "You remember me; good." Much like Kuronue he grabbed her arm and she found herself against him, his arms wrapped around her. "I think we should take Kuronue's advice." He purred (did kitsunes purr? Fay couldn't help but wonder) into her ear.

She couldn't help the goosebumps that ran down her back, although they didn't seem to be of fright. "No thanks, now could you let me go." She spoke quickly trying to disentangle herself from him.

He chuckled and kept his hold on her.

"A little help Kuronue." Fay turned to the bat demon. "What would you pay me?" Kuronue asked her, his tone mischievous.

"Don't delude yourself; you couldn't take her from me if you wanted." Youko smirked at Kuronue. By his tone, and Kuronue's, Fay could tell they'd done this before, playful competition or banter between the two. 'Well leave me out of this!' she thought trying to slip away from the fox's grasp, not that it worked, his hold simply tightened. Her attention, however, shifted to Kuronue as he picked up one bucket of cold water and splashed it onto the wood.

"Wait…what are you doing?" she asked. Youko laughed softly above her. "He's lighting the fire of course."

Fay sweatdropped. The most rational people in this place were also crazy. 'Well guess it's back to Kuwabara, he seems to be the most sane.' She thought, but she couldn't help it. "With water?" she asked incredulously. "How else?" Kuronue tossed over his shoulder as he picked up the second bucket and splashed it over the wood, and to her surprise (Why she was still surprised she couldn't say) the wood burst into flame, sure the flame was blue instead of red orange but still.

"Cool." She chirped. Kuronue smirked smugly at Youko, then tilted his head as if listening. "I suggest you get going Cheshire fox, the other one is getting closer."

'What did he just call him?' Fay thought as startled she looked from Kuronue to Youko.

Above her Youko sighted as if annoyed. "It seems as if it can't be helped."

"You don't look like a Cheshire cat." Fay's tone was questioning as she studied him. "Fox, Cheshire fox, next time I will teach you the difference." He purred in her ear, then let go and in a gust of soft wind he was gone. "Wait…no, what?" Fay called after him then turned to Kuronue but the bat-demon wasn't there. "Do you people ignore me on purpose?" she spoke out loud, her tone exasperated.

A chuckle answered her question, one she'd heard many times before. Brightening, Fay ran out the kitchen back door and looked around. "Kurama?" she called out.

She caught sight of crimson red locks and, once more and without stopping to think, followed into a forest; so intent was she on finding him that she didn't notice the trees thicken behind her, cutting her off from the manor.

"Kurama?" Fay called out once more stopping when she came to a four way path. The grass beneath her feet was different than the rest of it, it was neatly trimmed and had squares of dark green grass and a lighter green color, and all set as white and black were set on a chessboard. Fay looked down one way then the other. 'Now which way?' She thought, looking up at what she could see of the sky through the leaves. At some point while she'd been in the manor, night had turned to day and a few rays of the sun reached through the canopy of thick leaves.

"You called?" Fay turned in a circle, seeking out the figure. His soft chuckle reached her and she turned in its direction. "Up here." A red rose fell from the tree to her left and she caught it, looking up to the thick branches.

Kurama rested on a branch, dressed in a pinstriped suit of black and red. Relief entered her eyes. "Kurama, what's going on here? Where am I, and where did you get that suit?" she couldn't help but ask. He looked great in it, Fay had to admit.

"To much goes on here to tell you all." He told her, his eyes sparkling down at her. "You're where you're supposed to be, and I come with it." His smile was teasing and reminded her so much of Youko's own that she had to blink to make the illusion banish, but so did he. "Kurama?" she called out, her tone puzzled.

"Here." Before Fay could turn around and face him he placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezed gently in reassurance and leaned in close. "Do you trust me?" he whispered. "Of course." She answered immediately, her tone sure even as she tried to hide the shiver that had gone down her spine, much like they had with Youko. "Then close your eyes." Fay did as directed and felt his arms wrap around her waist.

He stepped forward and she mimicked his step, then he stepped back, caught a hold of her hand and whirled her around once. "The path in front of you, take it." Fay opened her eyes and searched for him but he was gone. 'The path before me.' She thought and turned to the one she had been facing. 'Here we go again.' The rose clutched to her chest Fay started down the path.


	9. Chapter 9: Conferences and Conversations

CHAPTER 8: Wizards

"The child thinks she's invincible! Leaving herself open to death simply to save a boy!"

The six Wizards sat around a long conference table where, although she'd prefer to be somewhere else, Mary Anne found herself sitting at as well. It had been inevitable that she'd end up here. She should know, she'd tried to avoid it.

Mary Anne had been sitting in class when Merlin, the only Wizard who actually looked like an old man, and Nicholas Flamel who'd changed his appearance to that of a man in his late twenties with really long green hair and violet eyes not long after his supposed 'death', had stalked into the room, taken a hold of her by both arms, and hauled her away. As tall as they were, her legs hadn't come close to touching the ground.

Coming back to the present Mary Anne rolled her eyes at Vainam's (at least that's how she thought of him, his actual name was way too long for her to pronounce on a daily basis) outcry. "At this rate I'll find myself having to fix her once more."

Vainam or Väinämöinen sat nearest to her. Wearing a dark blue suit, his long midnight black hair pulled back into a pony tail, glasses over dark brown eyes, he looked more like a businessman in his mid thirties than the supposedly oldest Wizard in the world.

Mary Anne leaned back on her chair, raising an eyebrow in question. "And you expect me to do what exactly?"

"We merely ask you to help her on her way a little more, act as her guide and friend. Tell her that she isn't as immune to death as she now believes herself to be." Even as Serenesiel, the only female in the Wizard's faction spoke, Mary Anne was already shaking her head. "Sorry but that is not in my job description."

Silence fell over those gathered in the conference room. Serenesiel closed grey blue eyes, relaxing back into her chair as if she'd already done her part and could do no more.

This female wizard looked like a young woman in her mid twenties, was dressed in a black halter top dress that hugged her curves and accentuated her rich long dark blue hair, unbound it cascaded down her back to her waist, and according to her was her original hair color. When asked what she did when people asked about her hair, Serenesiel would give them a secretive smile and say that she'd been lucky. It was hard to believe that she was the second longest lived Wizard in the room, tracing her family line all the way to ancient times when it was said Atlantis existed. She claimed to be from that very continent.

"Then what exactly do you expect us to do?" The slowly spoken words were pronounced by Runeius in a slightly Germanic accent.

It seemed as if most of the wizards had a thing for long hair; Runeius's was dark silver and fell unbound to his waist. His eyes were of the same color, his skin was fairer than any of the others, he was the tallest as well and was more laid back in his clothing; black turtle neck, dark blue jeans, and men's black leather shoes completed his dress ensemble. What his age was…well Mary Anne would guess perhaps somewhere in his thirties, but then again it was hard to tell sometimes, so she left it to the people who didn't know he was a couple centuries old to guess. In the lineup, he was younger than Merlin but older than Nicholas.

"We cannot protect her completely," Runeius continued. "It has been tried. The attempt ended in nothing but ruin, sadness and death for all those involved and many, many that were not. It is, I believe, one of the reasons this must be the last battle. We cannot afford a third world war."

Mary Anne shuddered. No, that was not an option at all. She'd read the accounts of the Guardians before her, the ones who were around long before when Guardians were revered and honored, then later on when they began to fade into the background. It had described battle after bloody battle when many humans had been able to see the light of the Right and had sought its...her power. For a while the entries stopped, not long after the witch hunts had begun.

Guardian after Guardian had been wiped out in the hunts, speeding Mid-Earth's path toward destruction. There had been a point where no Guardian had existed for a count of about a hundred years. While the normal humans had gone about their lives, advancing in technology, their unknown world, and seeking wealth, the factions had begun to plan.

The Wizards had barely managed to keep them from pulling a Coup d'état and taking out world leaders in order to take over. Without a Guardian there had been little to stop them, they counted the humans as little more than a minor hindrance and they knew the Wizard Faction, as powerful as they were, would not last long against so many of them.

So the Wizards had sought to speak to the Powers that Be through the last remaining Oracle in a quickly advancing world.

According to what Mary Anne had read in the Guardian Chronicles; this Oracle had been almost a hundred years old, blind, and dying. She was not far from her death when Nicholas, as spokesperson for the Wizards, had approached her…her, who at the time lived in a hovel of a home with only a twelve year old orphan she had taken in.

Nicholas had beseeched her to help them save this world from the factions lest it brought forth its very destruction. He knew the Right could arise once more at any moment. As things had stood back then, the factions would get a hold of it…or her as it were.

The old woman had cackled, showing rotted and missing teeth. "Why would I wish to save a world I will soon be leaving?" And so the bargaining had begun.

It wasn't until Nicholas, reluctantly, had offered her the elixir of life that the Oracle had agreed to commune with the Powers that Be. Nicholas had reluctantly handed over the Elixir of life to the Oracle who with glee had drunk it greedily.

What the Oracle had failed to realize was that such a gift came with consequences. A fire had begun somewhere within her, plunging her into a fever that lasted over a week, a week where her body burned as if the very fires of hell had taken residence within her. At the same time she'd gained the information Nicholas had wanted and much more. Some had even speculated that she knew how to free this world's magic; knew how to stabilize it once more, but if she did, for one reason or another she wasn't talking.

The experience, as the account went, left her with the appearance of a twenty year old and the health of someone much younger; it had also left her humbled. She'd told Nicholas that she herself would find and train the next Guardian.

Thus the world had once more gained a Guardian who had to deal with the mess the factions and the disappearance of the last Guardian, had left behind. Thankfully the Right had not risen until much later, plunging the world into chaos once more.

She was so thankful it hadn't been her who'd had to deal with that situation.

"Look I doubt another World War will break out because of the Right and there isn't a witch hunt going on so I'm not going anywhere. As for her dying; that was stupid, but from what I've seen of the Spirit Detective and his team they'll do their best not to let that happen again. If and only IF it gets out of hand will I step in. My job is clear: Protect this world from destruction."

Valentius snorted. "Because you're doing such a great job Guardian." Mary Anne glared daggers at the red head's sarcastic tone.

At two hundred, Valentius was the youngest in the Wizard faction and prone to acting much like a being of twenty…or eight. His red hair fell to his shoulders and he dressed like a biker; leather jacket, black t-shirt, leather pants, black boots, not to mention the black glasses he wore more often than not. Although he could change the color of his eyes, he preferred to keep his original eye color; a mahogany red.

"So tell me," he continued, to Mary Anne's irritation. "When are you going to stop this world's high speed race towards Ragnarok? Oh yeah and the fact that the factions messing with greater magic is speeding up the process tremendously." He snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right, not even the previous Guardians bothered to stop the factions when they began whispering of a 'better' way to practically do everything to any mortal who would listen, and listen they did."

He tsked, shaking a finger at her. "Humans are so susceptible when it comes to things like those. Create this and go down in history, not to mention the loads of money you'll make. But they never thought of the weight they put upon this world did they?" He tapped the wood table they sat around. "This world is reaching its limits."

"Tell us, Guardian, isn't that in your job description? To make sure that didn't happen? Don't you guys have tea every Saturday with the Oracle? Didn't she tell you what's happening? Not that you need her to tell you where all this is heading. If the Right dies and is reborn it will be another war, one that this world, close to its limits as it is, cannot contain. We're lucky enough that you thought of moving this whole mess to another world but how long till-" At a warning cough from Merlin, Valentius stopped, finally noticing Mary Anne. To him it seemed as if she'd grown a few dozen feet, seeing as she was very small, and her eyes glittered with angry fire.

"Shut up!" Mary Anne growled at him. "Like you're doing anything!"

"It's not my job." He finished lamely then scooted back, feeling as if he'd shrunk.

"Don't temp me to do something you'll regret Wizard!" Mary Anne snapped. "To everything there is a plan and I have my job." Her glare went up a notch as it encompassed the rest of the Wizards. "This problem is the Right's, not mine. Those beings she's found will either help her or not, having met them I believe they will do their very best but,' she slammed her hands onto the table. "Let me make this very, very clear to all of you; should the Right become a hazard to MY WORLD,' she accented each word with a slap to the table. "I will not hesitate to kill her! And kill her again wherever she is reborn!" The chair behind her slammed against the wall as the small sized Guardian stomped out of the conference room like a small whirlwind. 'Idiots! All of them!' She thought darkly.

As she walked, the echoing halls of city hall slowly calmed Mary Anne down. 'Damn, I don't usually go of like that.' Spilling her back up plans to others. Not that she blamed herself, not with those accusations flung at her and her predecessors.

She stopped, the echo of her footsteps fading away. 'Maybe I should-' her head snapped up as a chuckle reached her. A shadowy figure leaned against the wall a few feet from her.

"Ah, so you're here. Took you long enough."

With a sound of disgust she walked past the figure.

"I…happened to have overheard your talk with the Wizards."

Mary Anne couldn't help but compare both their voices and come to the conclusion that his voice mirrored his father's, not to mention the way he looked. "I hope you're not going to try to convince me too. I follow the rules. Those rules state that I stay out of it until absolutely needed, so drop it."

The taller figure shook his head. "No; we had a deal and I won't ask anything beyond its restrictions."

Mary Anne relaxed slightly. "Good, so why aren't you there keeping an eye on them? He's your son. I explicitly remember you saying that you'd keep both eyes on them."

"At the moment there is little chance that they will run into trouble."

'So you say.' Mary Anne thought differently. That group looked as if they attracted trouble like honey to bees, especially with Fay now with them. "So you came to see how I was behaving?" she asked in a disbelieving tone.

He shook his head. "No, I had…a certain errand to see to here, and I happened to find out that the Wizard faction was having a meeting that required your presence."

'In other words; I went to see the Oracle and she ratted you out.' Mary Anne shrugged it off. "Whatever." She stepped through the doors, pulling her coat closed against the cold. 'Gods I hate this weather.'

Not that long ago she'd been the kind of person who liked winter. After all it meant cool weather; being able to sit at home in flannel socks with a warm cup of hot chocolate, not to mention the rain. There was just something about watching the rain fall.

But this…this was just wrong. It was freezing when it should be summer and according to the weather report, it wouldn't be getting warm anytime soon. On the contrary, if it kept going this way they would actually have snow. Snow here in the valley!

She shook her head, started down the steps. "Go and keep your side of the bargain. Remember if anything like what we discussed happens call me without delay."

Her companion paused half way down the stone steps, his eyes narrowed. "You really will go through with this? I don't believe she means any harm, on the contrary."

Mary Anne stopped, looking back up the steps. "I will." She ground out. "You out of all of them should know that I will do what is expected of me as Guardian. One death will mean nothing compared to all those saved." She started down the street.

"True, but can you live with that?" The words stopped her for the merest of seconds.

"It hardly matters." She shot over her shoulder, but he was gone.


	10. Chapter 10: Breakfast

CHAPTER 9: Breakfast

The door of his office burst open as the black hair young man stormed in, his red eyes glowing. "They killed him! He is part of our pack! Yet they kill him and I see you doing nothing to avenge his death!" The sentence ended in a growl that rumbled from deep within his chest, making its way out his throat.

Dark glasses over chocolate brown eyes, Bardulf, Leader of the Werewolf Faction, looked up from reading the report to his pack member.

"Read this." He handed the report over to an angry Lycaon.

Lycaon looked from the report to Bardulf. "You read at a time like this! We should…we should take action! They cannot…" he stopped as Bardulf pointed at the report with an authoritive finger.

With a wolf like snort Lycaon turned his attention to the report.

Silence reigned in the office, only broken by the muffled footsteps of Lovell as he entered, taking a seat in his older brother's study.

"I guess he's heard." The boy commented. Lycaon shot him a glare but continued reading.

"I liked the Right, she was nice. She tried to get that ugly hag to stop fighting me, you know. I say we all go together and get her back from those Detectives, they shouldn't even be involved in this battle. They're not even a faction." He snorted in disgust. "I can't believe Sandulf was killed by them." At another glare from Lycaon, Lovell fell into silence.

"It has to be a lie!" Finally finished, Lycaon threw the report down on Bardulf's desk. "I don't believe a single word of it!"

Bardulf shook his head. "Neither did I at first but think on it; when we found Daciana's body, the wounds were too pronounced, as if pointing right at the Vampires. Vampires don't usually have to kill their prey to feed from them and they leave no mark whatsoever if they so wish it. They haven't hunted and killed since the Guardian was restored and Orpheus took over the faction. Not to mention…' Bardulf's eyes narrowed as he remembered Sandulf's reaction. Although he had seemed sad and angry, to Bardulf it had felt as if something had been of. The reaction had been too forced, and what Bardulf now recognized as glee had glimmered in his eyes. He was a fool to have thought it was anger.

While Lycaon seemed to struggle with his emotions Bardulf turned to his brother. "So Lovell, you have met the Right; tell me about her." Lovell grinned, jumping to his feet and skipping over to his brother.

* * *

She ran through the dark woods; her breath short, her legs on fire, but she couldn't stop. If she did they would catch her. She swallowed, trying to speeding up only to trip and fall as her foot caught at a root. "Someone please!" she called scrambling to get up. "Please help me!"

_"Woman wake up."_

Fay came awake with a gasp. For a few moments she was confused as she blinked sleep out of her eyes as she sat up, wincing at the stiffness in her muscles. Finally the events of last night rushed back to her. She couldn't help but groan, falling back on the pillows, pulling the blanket over herself.

'I can't believe I did what I did.' Though she doubted that if given a second chance she wouldn't have done it anyway. 'I couldn't just stand there and watch him get killed.'

That brought up another question; how had she known about that demon, for that matter how had she known what she had about Sandulf?

'I guess…I just did.' Fay supposed it didn't matter at the moment but she was glad Sandulf was gone, he was one less…being after her. 'Though I doubt the Werewolves will be pleased one of theirs has been knocked off.'

Fay briefly wondered if she could possibly dig her grave any deeper, then decided that yes, yes she could.

With a martyred sigh she pulled back the covers, sitting up again. The stiffness from her healed wounds began to vanish quickly so that seconds later she could barely feel it. 'Well I can't stay in here forever.' Placing her legs over the bed she called out a hello, surprised when the door opened almost immediately.

"It's good to see you're up." The blue hair girl, Botan, entered a cheerful smile on her face. "We were beginning to worry; you've been out for two whole days."

"What!" Fay jumped to her feet, eyes wide. "That's impossible I couldn't-" she trailed of when Botan nodded in affirmation. "We tried waking you up a few times, gently of course, but nothing worked." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "The suggestion was made that we use the cold water tactic,' when she noticed Fay's look she laughed. "Don't worry, that was quickly shut down."

"I suppose I should be thankful for small favors." Fay replied wryly.

"That's the spirit,' Botan said cheerfully, completely misunderstanding Fay's tone. "Now, I bet you want a shower; by the way I love your clothing style, you just have to take me to where you buy your clothes."

Fay blinked in confusion as she studied Botan's clothes. Why would she want to dress like her when their styles were so different? Fay looked down at what she was wearing, her eyes widening in surprise. "What the..! Botan…where did this come from!" She whirled around looking for a mirror, rushing to it.

"What do you mean where it came from? It was in that large back pack you were carrying of course, along with all your other clothes. I hung them in the closet by the way. I'd just hate to have such pretty clothes get all wrinkled." Before she'd finished speaking Fay had rushed to the closet's sliding door, opening it with an almost desperate demeanor.

One eye twitching, Fay looked at 'her' clothes in disbelief, not even noticing when Botan stepped to her side. "You know it even makes me wish I were a little smaller,' her grin widened. "Then I could borrow it."

"G…gah…" Fay slid down to her knees, wide eyes still on the clothes.

Finally noticing Botan leaned down. "Is something wrong, Fay?"

Fay hardly heard her. 'I…I must have grabbed the wrong backpack…no that can't be right...oh yeah.' Her eye twitched, it was her aunt's fault. 'It must've happened the day before.' Fay remembered being so preoccupied about the factions that when her mother had 'insisted' on her going with her to her aunt's she had simply taken the backpack she'd packed with her clothes. At the time Fay had had some type of idea of hightailing it to the Wizards for a while, until she could find a way to fix her situation.

Instead she'd ended up going to her Aunt Marietta's place.

She was a clothes designer and had been using her, her sisters (and to a lesser extent) her brothers to model the clothing for her; something Fay had grown to fear, though not as much as her aunt's wrath. Things were made worse by her mom and aunt's attempts to overhaul her wardrobe.

They hid her clothes away and replaced it; she found it and wore it. With a long suffering sigh Fay looked down at the short pink (she shuddered) sleeping gown she wore. She must've replaced the clothing in the backpack while Fay had been talking to Lisette. 'Note to self; kill aunt when all this is over.'

Until then though…Fay looked at the clothes hanging in the closet. 'I'm going to have to suffer it.'

"Fay is something wrong?"

Fay snapped out of her depressed thoughts, standing up. "Umm…no, nothing I was just a little surprised…I…I seem to have gotten the wrong back up when I left." She gave a forced laugh.

Botan looked from her to the clothes in the closet. "Hm…so Yusuke was right, what you were wearing yesterday is the type of clothes you usually wear." Fay nodded wearily. "Don't worry I can deal with these clothes." She turned, started towards the bathroom door when the sound of the front door opening reached them, followed by shouting.

"They're back; I'll just go tell them you're awake. Come out to breakfast once you're ready."

As she reached the door Botan waved cheerfully once more before closing it behind her.

Fay listened for a moment at her fading footsteps and the sound of voices further off. She caught herself about to sigh once more and shook her head. 'No way! I am not going to start feeling sorry for myself! Not when I finally found a way out of this mess.'

With determined strides she walked into the bathroom, turning on the water. 'So I have a whole bunch of factions after me, I'm in a different world, and if I have some type of power I could actually use myself, I don't know it. It doesn't matter; I've found friends that will help me, so no crying.' With a determined nod she stepped into the shower only to realize she hadn't taken of her nightgown.

* * *

"You're the one who said it was to girly for you! So how come you're eating mine!" Botan walked into the living room as Kuwabara attempted to retrieve the sprinkled doughnut from Yusuke who was devouring it with one hand and holding Kuwabara back with the other one.

"It's your damn fault,' he popped the last bit into his mouth in accompaniment to Kuwabara's shout of denial. "Wif byu,' he swallowed, started again. "If you hadn't started running your mouth off at me I might have left it alone." He dodged Kuwabara's punch to the face and let him go causing Kuwabara to stumble a few steps forward and fall at Botan's feet.

Hands on hips Botan glared. "Really is that any way to behave so early in the morning Yusuke?" The black hair boy laughed it off and passed by her, followed by Hiei and Kurama who had waited until the two teenagers had vacated the door.

Botan followed them into the kitchen while Kuwabara picked himself of the floor, glaring at the back of Yusuke's head. 'Damn you Urameshi. Just you wait-' His thoughts were cut off as Kurama asked the question they'd been asking for the last two days.

"Has she awakened?"

Botan smiled, giving them a peace sign. "Yup, she's taking a quick shower and should be out soon. And not a scratch on her, so I guess she was telling the truth about not dying easily."

"It was still a stupid thing to do." Yusuke spoke as he glanced down the corridor. "I mean I'm glad that Kurama's fine and all but we were supposed to be protecting her, not the other way around."

"I don't think she would have liked it if someone died protecting her." Botan said thoughtful.

"What I'd like to know is why she would do it at all." Botan, Yusuke, and Kurama turned to Hiei. "Maybe I can see her doing something that stupid for someone she's known for a while, but we'd just met her. She had no obligation to any of us."

Kurama turned away. "Yes…I suppose I'm somewhat curious myself."

Botan sweat dropped. Hadn't they heard her? "Maybe you'd like to consider what I said?" she waved her hand trying to get their attention.

"I'm guessing Botan's probably right." Yusuke pulled out a chair, draping his sweater over the chair before sitting down. "Anyway it's the only explanation I can see fitting into the scenario, but I guess we could always ask her- Hey what do you think you're doing, Kuwabara!" Yusuke launched himself half over the table, barely stopping Kuwabara from biting into the bagel.

"Don't try to stop me Urameshi! This is pay back!" Kuwabara leaned closer to the bagel, his mouth open. Yusuke kept pulling his arm back, his eyes twitching in annoyance. "You're stupid doughnut doesn't equal my bagel so let it go!" Yusuke tried snatching his bagel back from Kuwabara with his other hand as Kuwabara bit down.

"Yaah!" Yusuke screamed as Kuwabara's teeth clamped down on his hand instead of the bagel. Kuwabara reeled back releasing Yusuke and trying to clean his mouth. "That vwas tisgusting." He mumbled.

On his side Yusuke was blowing at his reddened and throbbing hand. "It's your fault for acting like an idiot!"

Hiei turned away from the childish display, moving to the window. Sometimes he wondered why he was still working with these fools, and then he remembered.

"Tell me when you're both done acting like fools." His words cut through the shouting match between Yusuke and Kuwabara. One that Botan and Kurama watched with unsure expressions, sweat drops on their heads. "If you hadn't noticed we have more important matters to see to than something as idiotic as who's eating what."

Yusuke and Kuwabara glanced at each other then looked to Hiei with an expression that gave him pause.

"You're right, thanks Hiei." Yusuke snickered.

Hiei's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah I didn't know you could be so nice shorty."

The bag containing his breakfast vanished from the table before Kuwabara and Yusuke could put their hands on it.

"If I wanted to starve I would have eaten whatever gruel Yusuke could come up with."

Kuwabara laughed while Yusuke's smirk turned into a glare. "Hey, if guys were meant to cook we would have been born knowing it!" he defended himself.

Kurama chuckled. "I believe you have the wrong saying, Yusuke."

"Isn't it something like 'if humans were meant to fly they'd been born with wings?" Botan asked.

"Who the hell cares!" Yusuke snapped, sitting back down and grabbing his breakfast.

"Yusuke! You can't start eating before our guest joins us." Botan chided.

Yusuke bit back a groan. "Are you kidding me!" he complained. "I know girls okay! All of you take forever to put on socks, now you expect me to wait who knows how long till- hey!"

The rest of the group turned as Fay stepped into the kitchen. "Did I really take that long?" she asked. She didn't usually, but then again there had been a lot on her mind.

Botan smiled reassuringly as she walked over to their new friend. "Of course you didn't. Yusuke just needs to have something to complain about in the morning."

"Oh…I see." Her words were puzzled as she looked around at the group with some uncertainty. "Umm…well I guess I should start by thanking you guys for protecting me yesterday." She bowed. "If you hadn't been there Sandulf would have captured me."

"There's no reason for you to thank us." Kurama stepped forward, a gentle smile on his lips. "On the contrary, I should be thanking you for saving my life."

Next to her Botan nodded enthusiastically. "That's right, so like Kurama said; there's no reason for thanks. Now come on you must be hungry after sleeping for so long."

While Kurama slid out a chair for her to sit, Botan led her to it. "All you have to worry about right now is eating and getting your energy back."

Before she reached the chair however, she found her path blocked by Kuwabara. "I already promised to protect you remember. Next time they'll have to go through me to get to you."

Sitting on the chair Yusuke snickered. "They nearly did."

Kuwabara glared at him. "Shut up Urameshi!"

"Make me." Yusuke smirked.

"Alright that's it! Let's take this outside."

Suddenly Kuwabara felt a slap to the back of his head while Yusuke found a fist meeting his head. "That's enough you two! How many times do I-" Fay's annoyed tone cut off. She blushed taking a step back. "Sorry." She laughed nervously. "You just reminded me so much of my two older brothers I acted on instinct."

Yusuke turned a mock glare on her. "Well did you have to hit me that hard? I almost bit my tongue."

This time it was Kuwabara's turn to snicker. "Then you should have hit him a little harder, it would have kept him quiet for a while longer." As the two started arguing again Fay smiled. 'Well, maybe this won't be so bad after all.'

"Alright you two, enough fighting." Botan scolded the arguing pair while Kurama motioned for her to take a seat. Her smile turned a little uncertain until Kurama stepped away, moving to sit on the other side of the table while Botan sat down next to her.

"By the way you clean up well." Fay knew Yusuke's comment was supposed to be complimentary but her smile was somewhat wry. "Don't remind me."

Not really having had a choice, Fay had chosen an outfit consisting of an off the shoulder sky blue/ white blouse and a knee length skirt of a slightly darker blue that lightened to sky blue as it reached her knees. She counted her blessings that at least it didn't have any ruffles.

The smug look Yusuke shot Botan said that he'd been right in assuming this wasn't what she usually wore. Botan ignored it as she passed Fay her breakfast. "Well I think you look adorable this way."

Fay would have hit her head on the table, except her food was there and she found she was starving. "Uh…thanks, Botan." She murmured not knowing what else to say.


	11. Chapter 11: Explanations

CHAPTER 10: Exlanations

Fay expected to be quizzed during breakfast so it took her by surprise when no one did. Except for the occasional outbursts from Kuwabara and Yusuke, something she watched with some amusement, breakfast was quiet enough.

This lasted until she finished, then Yusuke pounced as she sat in the living room. "Sorry if I'm being pushy but if we're going to end up fighting someone else like the guy from two days ago we're going to need a lot more information about them."

Botan came to her rescue, arguing that she'd barely woken up and needed a little more time to rest.

While Yusuke and Botan argued, Fay closed her eyes in thought. It wasn't that she had to make a choice whether to tell them anything or not.

She needed them, more than that she had decided to trust them. Fay didn't want to risk any of them getting hurt because she'd acted stupid (much like last …two days ago) and didn't tell them anything about their enemy.

The problem was that the information that came to her was in bits and pieces. She truly hadn't known until he'd summoned the creature what it was that he had done.

However she could tell them what the Wizards had told her when they'd so, rudely if anyone had asked her before, showed up in her school demanding to speak to her. Well it had been more like charmed and lied to get to her, but it was the same thing as far as she had been concerned. Still, now she was grateful that they had made time to tell her what they knew about the factions.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt a slight tug at her mind. 'What was that?' It hadn't felt dangerous, and now that she thought about she'd felt something like it before.

Her eyes scanned the room, finally settling on the one person not standing with the group; instead he sat at the window sill, his gaze on the street below. 'Hmm…must be imagining things.'

"It's alright Botan, Yusuke's right." Fay looked from where she sat on the sofa to the blue hair girl. "I don't mind telling you guys what I know of the factions but...well I really don't know much when it comes to their battle capabilities."

"Well, I guess if you think you're ready." Botan took a seat beside her while the others made themselves comfortable in the other living room chairs. "Is…is there anything in particular you guys would like to know about them?" Fay asked.

"It would be good to know exactly how many of them are able to summon demons from some nether region of hell." She looked over at Hiei, wondering why he looked so miffed.

"Yeah good idea shrimp,' Kuwabara ignored Hiei's glare. "I don't know about you but I'd rather not have all my senses on overload again."

"What, they're not always there?" Yusuke taunted. Hiei smirked while Kuwabara in turn glared at Yusuke. "You're asking for it Urameshi!" He was about to get up when Fay decided to quickly continue. "I wasn't aware that anyone would be stupid enough to make pacts like those." All eyes turned to her.

"Go on." Botan asked curiosity in her voice.

"If I remember correctly you mentioned that to summon such a creature, sacrifices must be made; those of young children and a loved one." Fay nodded at Kurama's words. "Yes, that's exactly why I didn't think anyone would go to such lengths. In the end it would mean the death of many in their own factions. You see, the factions aren't as numerous as they once were. Using the type of demon summoned by Sandulf means certain death."

She placed a hand over her chest, eyes only half open as if remembering something, quietly she continued. "It burns a hole where your soul should be and leaves you craving…craving…but for what you don't know. Your soul…you can never get it back, the creature swallows it at the moment of summoning, and because of the horrible things committed in its name, the owner doesn't feel it until it's too late." She finally looked up at them, eyes a darker shade than its usual aquamarine. "And then you become something worse than what a Necromancer could ever call forth. Your death means your existence."

Kuwabara shivered, rubbing his hands over his arms. Was it him or did this girl just get seriously spooky. Eyes on her, he blinked a couple of times to make the illusion go away. Her voice…it had taken an older quality. He could have sworn it echoed, not to mention that her appearance had seemed to shift slightly to that of a woman instead a girl of fourteen or fifteen.

He glanced over to the rest of his friends, feeling better when he saw that they'd tensed as well. "So uh…I guess you don't like those people. Don't blame you; just thinking about it makes my skin crawl." He shivered.

Her head tilted slightly to the left, breaking the illusion. "No of course not, I doubt if anyone would like them, Kuwabara. Essentially they are damned." He silently breathed in relief when she continued and nothing weird happened again.

"So I can say with almost certainty that we won't encounter another Sandulf." He decided to ignore that her tone of voice was less than certain.

"Then what exactly can we expect from these factions? From what you've said of them and what we've seen I doubt if most of them use the same type of fighting style we do." Hiei said.

Fay thought for a moment, trying to remember what she'd been told. "You're right Hiei; that the Wizards know, the factions use magics; and many of them can use the Greater Magics."

"And those would be?" Yusuke prompted.

"Well there are three types of Greater Magics that I was told; the first two being Light and Dark. These magics also involve the elements but…well I guess you can think of them as a boost to the original spell. Most battle spells are dark while healing are light. It's the same with weapons and anything they use for defense, like a shield. Those have imbedded within them light spells of protection." She frowned. "Though I think swords would have both light and dark within them." She was actually surprised this hadn't confused the hell out of her yet.

"Okay so….they're like offense and defense." Yusuke muttered out loud trying to process the information.

Fay nodded. "Yes."

"What of the third magic?" This time it was Kurama who spoke. For some unknown reason, Fay felt herself close to blushing. Her eyes flickered to him then away. "Well…umm…it's called Summons." Noticing that she was fidgeting with her hands she curled them, placing them on her lap, silently berating herself before finally looking up at him. "While they don't summon creatures from the lower depths of hell they do summon creatures from other planes of existence. Like giant vipers, demons from the higher planes, creatures that are usually relegated to the pages of fantasy books."

Yeah she should talk, she was one of the things that should be relegated to the pages of a fantasy book, and put waaay in the back of a shelf.

He smiled, as if knowing her thoughts. Fay quickly looked away.

"Tell me they aren't like the demon we fought." Realizing that she'd lost the thread of conversation Fay turned to Yusuke, shaking her head. "No, they can be killed,' she pursed her lips.

"But?" Yusuke prompted. "How did you know?" she asked a little surprised.

"There's always a but in there somewhere, so what is it? Do we need some kind of special weapon?"

Fay shook her head. "No, actually I was just going to say that although a demon can be destroyed, if it's decided not to take its true form all you can do is destroy the form it chose and sent it back to its Hell Plane."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Kuwabara spoke. "They have to be summoned so if the guy who brought it out in the first place is dead, that's that."

"Yes, pretty much." Fay agreed.

"Very well, we can deal with that; but now, if it's possible we would like to know exactly how many factions there are, and how many in a faction."

Fay was very proud of the fact that she managed to look back at the red head without doing anything that made her feel like an idiot. "It's not the Houses that you have to worry about. The only people who know of this war are those in the ruling families. Merlin said that those have shrunk as time passed."

"Wait…where have I heard that name before?" At the same time Yusuke said this Kuwabara jumped to his feet and exclaimed. "You mean the actual Merlin? The one in stories?"

Fay smiled. "I was as surprised as you, but yeah turns out it's him."

"Wow," Kuwabara sat down. "He must be really old."

"And wise." Kurama added, gaze on her. "Do you suppose we could meet him?"

Fay shrugged. "I'm sorry but I'm not sure, they're in my world so it might be tricky unless they come to this world…I mean if Mary Anne managed to do it then I'm sure they could."

Impatient Hiei interrupted. "How many in these ruling families?" he asked.

"I don't know that, neither do the Wizards. They told me the names of those they did know and how many factions that they know of, but that's it." Fay counted them with her hands. "First of it's the oldest factions that the Wizards know; The Dragons, Vampires, and Werewolves." She stopped at Kuwabara's outburst. "Wait a minute! Are you saying that we actually have to fight Dragons and Vampires? I'm fine with the werewolves but Dragons are huge! And I don't know about you but I'd rather not have my blood sucked out by a Vampire and turn into one of them."

Fay burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Kuwabara wanted to know.

"What do you think?" Yusuke smirked at his friend. "You just made a total idiot of yourself."

Kuwabara growled. "You're really asking for it Urameshi!"

"That's not it." Fay interrupted before another fight broke out. "It's just that I said the same thing myself." She tilted her head in thought. "Or at least something like it." She shrugged it off.

"Those are just superstitions. Well at least about the Vampires. At one point in time they were a cousin species to humans but for one reason or another they got one of the gods angry and he or she cursed them. At least that's all Serenesiel was willing to reveal. As for the dragons; they find it difficult to maintain their true form so they keep that of humans. If they do transform it's more like the werewolves; their body is covered by scales, they gain great power and speed but I think that's it. At least that's all that I was told." She hated relying on what she was told.

"Since we've dealt with rock demons I think we can deal with these dragons." Yusuke said. "So far it doesn't sound like it's going to be that hard."

"Careful Yusuke," Kurama interrupted. "Remember that they're also much older and experienced than you, they also happen to have magic on their side."

"Yeah, yeah I remember." Though it didn't sound like it worried him that much.

"The rest of the factions..." Hiei prompted.

"Right," Fay continued. "Next are the Wizards, according to them they're rated the fourth faction because they didn't actually become one until much later, and they're not the ones to worry about. After them come the Magus. Unlike the Wizards, they are after me; I actually met one of them before I came to this world. From what I saw of her they'll do whatever they have too to win this war. Sixth are the Malaika, which translates to Angels."

"Wait, as in real angels?" Yusuke asked incredulously.

Fay shrugged. "I'm not sure, Yusuke. They use names derived from angels but if they are really them…well I'm just not sure, neither are the Wizards."

"Isn't there anyone who would know?" Botan asked.

Fay hesitated before shook her head.

"I suggest you not lie to us." Hiei turned a hard stare on her. "I can always tell and I don't take kindly to it."

Fay glared at him. "I'm not lying! I just don't think that the one person who would know, besides the Malaika themselves, would tell us anything."

"And who would this person be?" Botan asked.

"No wait, let me take guess,' Yusuke said wryly. "Mary Anne."

At Fay's nod Botan seemed to deflate. "She does seem like the type of person who likes to keep her secrets."

"I thought the same of her." Fay said sounding somewhat gloomy. "She even told me that the only reason she was helping was to get this war of our world." Although that part, Fay really didn't mind.

Botan patted her on the shoulder, smiling. "I'm sure we'll figure out something if we do need that information, are those the last of the factions?"

Fay shook her head. "No, the last remaining are the newer factions; those calling themselves demons, although they're from my dimension they're not from my world. They come from a completely different one and it's not known if it's even within the Milky Way. However I did meet one of them before I came here; his name is Nikias, but who their leader is isn't known. From the Dragons, I know of Astor who is that faction's leader. From the Werewolves I know of Lovell and Konnor. According to the Wizards their leader is Lovell's older brother, Bardulf, as I'm sure you remember Sandulf say. From the Malaika I know of Zadkiel and their leader Azrael. As for the Magus, I only know of Corentin. I don't know of anyone from the Vampires and neither do the Wizards." She looked down lips pursed in worry.

"What's wrong?" Botan asked.

"I can probably guess; you left the worst for last." Looking as if he saw it coming, Yusuke draped his arms over the couch and waited for Fay to speak.

"It can't be that bad, she's told us about angels, demons and dragons. What could possibly be even worse than that?" Botan asked.

"I'm almost afraid to ask,' arms crossed, Kurama observed Fay's demeanor. Whatever it was, she thought it was worse than all the other factions put together. Still, they had to know what they would be dealing with. No matter how bad it was.

She finally looked up, large aquamarine eyes filled with worry. "They call themselves The Fears. Although they're the newest faction to make themselves known they're not like any of the others. They don't just blend into society and stay hidden. They're killers. Ever since I made my presence known they've been killing people left and right. The police can't find them and I'm actually relieved they can't,' her hands curled into fists on her lap, eyes downcast. "All they would do is provide more sport for these creatures. Worst of all I know they're doing it to catch my attention. It's their way of warning me they're on their way and they'll kill anyone who stands in it."

She shook her head, her hair spilling over her shoulders. "They're lead by a woman calling herself Lillith; a self proclaimed goddess of death and destruction. From what the Wizards said she's old, older than even them. Where she truly came from is unknown but…" she looked up. "She hates humanity and all those who would not bow to her, she plans on eradicating them and creating a new world in her own image; that I'm sure off."

"And we're not going to let her." Fay looked up as Yusuke stood. "You really shouldn't blame yourself for their actions. Besides with the exception of these Fears; once you stop being the Right they'll stop coming after you." Fay nodded, slowly relaxing. "So it looks like all we have to do is help you become fully human, after that all we'll have to do is take care of this Fears and case closed."

Fay gave him a wan smile. "I doubt it's going to be that easy, Yusuke." Yusuke dismissed it with a shrug. "We'll get to that when it's time. Right now it looks like what we should be doing is concentrating on finding the other pieces of that crest you're wearing." He motioned to the crest that hung from her neck. Fay placed a hand over it, nodding. "Right" she stood determination in her stance. "I'll do my best."

"That's the spirit." Botan padded her shoulder, a smile on her face. "Which reminds me, I better go tell Koenma what you've just told us." She stepped back ,an oar appearing in her hand. "So while I do that you guys take care of looking for the crest around here. The last time I spoke with Koenma he said he'd have the Spirit world vault searched, just in case."

As she spoke she walked over to the balcony, opened the sliding door and sat on the oar, which proceeded to slowly lift into the air.

'That's right.' Fay thought watching curiously. 'I saw her do that before.' It just hadn't registered while a battle was going on. She followed, watching as Botan disappeared into the sky. "So is she like a witch?" Fay looked back at the boys.

"Actually she's a Grim Reaper."

Fay blinked, unable to understand what Kuwabara had just said. "Whaaat?" she finally exclaimed. She couldn't picture Botan in a black cloak with a scythe and bony hands.

Yusuke chuckled. "Yeah, well if you died who'd you prefer to see? Her or some skeleton?"

Fay pictured Botan's smile in her head. "Hmm, I see your point." Still…

"If you're all done chatting shouldn't we start the search?" Fay glanced over at Hiei who'd finally left his perch on the windowsill.

"Hiei's right; the sooner we complete your crest the better." Now standing Kurama walked over to join Hiei. "Since it's something that may very well look old I thought of a few places we could start our search in. I've already spoken of them to Yusuke and Kuwabara. We'll split up and look, that way we'll cover more ground."

'He makes it sound so easy...but I guess we all know it won't be. All we can do is look, and hope we get lucky.' Fay watched as Kurama walked to Yusuke and Kuwabara, giving them a list of places. Both looked less than pleased at being sent to places such as antiquity stores, not that there were that many she noted as she looked at the list over Yusuke's arm.

There were other places listed there as well, including a museum. While Fay remembered that there was an art museum in downtown, this museum's name didn't ring a bell. 'Guess that's to be expected.'

"Fay, you'll be coming with Hiei and myself." Fay's head snapped in Kurama's direction. Realizing that he was standing a little too close, at least it felt that way to her, she took a few steps back, forcing an agreeable smile. "Sure, no problem."

"Hey how come you get to go with the pretty girl?" Kuwabara complained. Before Kurama could speak Hiei cut in. "Fool, it has nothing to do with that. Simply put you'd be more likely to lose the girl than us."

Kuwabara gritted his teeth, glaring down at him. "Come here and say that to my face one more time shorty! Besides I think she'd be more comfortable hanging out with us, after all why would she want to hang around with _short_,' he emphasized the word. "Tempered demons." He finished the sentence with a smug smile.

Hiei's eyes narrowed, he took a step towards Kuwabara.

"Kuwabara save it." Yusuke interrupted. "Though,' he glanced over at Fay who watched with a slightly exasperated expression. "It does look like she'd be more comfortable with us. I've noticed she tends to get nerv- Ow!" Yusuke's hands went to his back trying to reach the spot Fay had slapped him on. "What the hell was that for!" he demanded of her.

Fay looked up at him with a guileless smile, a hand to her cheek. "Oh I'm sorry; I thought I saw a fly on your back. My mistake."

Kurama sweat dropped while Yusuke glared down at her, his expressions saying that he didn't buy her innocent look for a second.

"If you'd prefer to go with them,' Kurama recalled their attention, hoping Yusuke didn't notice Kuwabara's snickering. "No one will object to it, Fay."

Fay shook her head, smiling innocently. "Its fine, I'll go with you guys, there's no reason to change plans on my account." Before Kurama could reassure her that it was no trouble, Hiei cut in. "In that case we've wasted enough time, let's go." He headed out the door without looking back.

"Fine, see you guys in a little while." Yusuke muttered edging carefully past Fay. "As much as I hate to be forced into going antiquing; the faster it's done the better." He picked up his jacket, putting it on he headed out the door followed by Kuwabara. "I say we get the museum done first; that might be worse than antiquing." She heard him say. "So what are we supposed to do if we find it in a museum?" Kuwabara asked.

"Well what do you think, stupid, we need it more than they do." Yusuke answered as they faded out of hearing.

Fay tensed when she realized she'd just been left alone with Kurama. "I…uh…I'll just get my sweater." Facing him, she slowly edged away, then made a dash for her bedroom.

"Of course." Kurama answered, watched her leave. 'Interesting reaction.' He picked up his jacket from where he'd hung it on the chair then walked to the door to wait for her.

It was almost as if she was afraid of him, but he didn't understand why. Perhaps if he were in his demon form he would expect it but not in human form. 'Could she perhaps remember the battle?' She hadn't given any indication that she remembered much about it beside what she'd told them. 'Then perhaps…' The smile he had given her before, it had been meant to reassure her yet it had had the opposite effect.

"I'm ready." She joined him with a bounce in her step, no longer looking nervous or afraid.

Unaware of his thoughts Fay spoke. "So where are we going first?" she headed for the door. "Though I guess we better go join Hiei first, he doesn't strike me as the patient type."

He wrapped his hand around her arm as she stepped past him, stopping her progress out the door. Surprised she looked back at him.

"Do you regret it?"

Puzzled she blinked up at him. "Regret… it?"

"Regret saving my life."

Faye's eyes widened at his words.

"I know I have committed sins in my life, sins that could never be forgiven; but am I really so reproachable that you would regret saving my life?" Kurama knew that outside Hiei listened, but he needed to know. He didn't know why he needed to know, except that she'd given her life for him and he wondered…had she known more about him…would she have done it anyway or left him to his fate? No, he realized, her words now would not give him the answer he sought.

"I'm sorry." At her words he retracted his hand from around her arm, but to his surprise she reached out, taking his. "No, I mean I'm sorry you thought my behavior meant I was regretting saving your life, but that's just not it Kurama."

He smiled at her then, that sweet gentle smile that made her heart double up in speed. It was true that although she had noticed how handsome he was before, it wasn't until he reassured her that they would help her in her search that she'd begun to notice _him._His eyes were so gentle, his smile so soft and kind, she'd found her heart had reacted like it had never done before. And…and she had no idea what the heck was going on with her!

With the exception of her two best friends, most of the friends she hung out with were guys, not to mention that although Astor had been a knock out and the rest of the faction guys were nothing to sneeze at, none of them had made her react this way. On the contrary she couldn't get away from them fast enough.

"That's the first time." Fay's thoughts scattered at his words. "First time?" she asked sounding a little bemused. "It's the first time you've called me by my name."

"Oh." She said dumbly. "I mean, umm…it didn't occur to me. No, I mean I don't regret saving you, really." She continued earnestly. "It's just that I…that I…don't seem to be very good at dealing with guys like you." She bumped herself on the head, laughingly trying to play of her behavior towards him.

"Guys like me?" he asked truly sounding puzzled. Fay let go of his arm and started walking backwards, an uncertain smile on her face. "When I figure it out myself I'll tell you, kay?"

Kurama followed her, suddenly reaching out. "Careful you're going too-" his warning came too late, she slipped on the first step, on instinct her arms wind milled, trying to regain her balance but she still felt herself falling until Kurama caught her by the waist and pulled her forward, right into his arms.

Her face heated it up, making her feel light headed. Her knees suddenly felt weak so that she slid to the ground, Kurama followed kneeling, worry in his emerald eyes. "Perhaps we rushed your recovery." He placed a hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature rise.

"What now?" Sounding annoyed Hiei appeared next to them, noting the girl's high color. If her face were any redder it could pass for a tomato. He glanced from Kurama to the girl then spoke to the red head. "Kurama, I believe I've forgotten that ridiculous phone Botan keeps pushing at me. Go get it for me."

Kurama frowned up at him, needed since he was kneeling. "Wouldn't it be faster if you went Hiei? Besides I believe Fay may be coming down with something." Hiei's gaze flickered over to Kurama. "I'd prefer if you got it, besides the girl isn't going anywhere trust me."

Kurama hesitated, not knowing what his friend had in mind but he finally nodded, walking back into the apartment.

"He's gone; can you get a hold of yourself now?"

Focusing on his voice Fay looked up at Hiei. He was smirking down at her. An 'I know what's going on here but everyone else is oblivious' type of smirk. Fay's lips curled into a slight frown. "I've been thinking; are you still mad at me? I mean from before?" she asked him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied stepping past her.

Feeling a lot more in control, Fay stood up, starting down the stairs after him.

"When you fought Sandulf; are you still mad that I wasn't able to be of any use?" she asked. "Sorry that I wasn't, but if I have any powers to help they're not active yet and…" she stopped, almost running into him.

Half turned towards her, he watched her silently before moving onto the sidewalk. "No. You saved Kurama's life and helped defeat that ghoul. You proved yourself useful enough."

Fay followed, sitting down on the last steps. "Then how come you always look mad when you look at me?"

The question took him by surprise; she could see it on his face as he looked back at her then quickly away. "Well excuse my unpleasant expression."

There was some contempt in his voice but Fay was beginning to understand. "Oooh, so you're one of those guys." She said knowingly.

He turned to face her, a glare in his eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Fay smiled, placing a hand to her lips. "That's a secret." She winked.

He looked somewhat nonplussed at her actions, as if uncertain what to do next but footsteps on the stairs made it unnecessary. "I'm sorry Hiei but I can't seem to find your cell phone. Did you lose it on purpose again?" Kurama asked as he joined them. Fay stood up, making room for him.

"No." Hiei responded in his usual manner. He pulled out a small black cell phone from his jacket pocket. "It seems I was mistaken, I had it all along."

Fay stifled her laughter, quickly placing a hand over her mouth when Kurama turned from his friend to her.

"You seem better."

Fay nodded letting her hand drop. "Yeah, I just needed to catch my breath. Come on let's go." She hurried past him to catch up with Hiei who was already making his way down the street. "Sure' you're not forgetting anything else Hiei?" she teased.

Kurama watched them for a moment, not really hearing Hiei's answer. He was glad that she was feeling better. Whatever she and Hiei had spoken about seemed to have made them friends, but…he was feeling...no, he was simply over thinking.

A feeling had awakened in his heart, if he didn't know any better he would have thought he was jealous. It bothered him; her easy manner with Hiei while she seemed unable to look at him without tensing. He shook his head. 'You're over thinking this Kurama.'

"Kurama come on, you don't want to get left behind!" Fay called back. Filing his thought away for later consideration he sped up to catch up with his friends.


	12. Chapter 12: Enter the Dragon

CHAPTER 11: Enter the Dragon

AN: Just a reminder; I am not good at battle scenes, the following is me trying.

* * *

"It's an old man, it has to be. See that's his chin…I think." Yusuke and Kuwabara stood in front of a large abstract painting in the museum, uncertain expressions on their faces.

"No way Urameshi, that's a beak. It has too, see that's the bird's beak and that's its wing."

Yusuke tilted his head as far to the left as he could. "No I don't see it. I'm telling you it's an old man…holding a tulip."

"There you two are." Both teens turned at the female voice. "I thought you were supposed to be at the antiquities exhibit, not here." She looked around. 'It hardly looks like a place these two would stay in of their own volition.'

"For your information we got here a little early for the exhibit so they made us wait out here. Hey, tell Urameshi I'm right about this painting and it's a bird."

Botan turned her attention to the painting both boys were arguing over. 'Honestly, arguing about a painting at a time like this.' And here she'd been looking around for them in the other exhibits.

"You're both wrong." The duo stopped arguing, focusing their attention on her. "No way." They echoed each other. Botan pointed at a plaque. "It clearly says Autumn's Tears. Now if you're both done with this let's get moving, the exhibit's been open for the last ten minutes."

"I just don't get art." Kuwabara muttered as he started after Botan. Yusuke, with a look that clearly said he'd rather be somewhere else, followed after his friends. "Fine but let's make this quick; all this art is starting to give me a headache."

"A little art won't kill you, Yusuke." Botan urged Yusuke on when he started glancing at the exit. "It might actually do you some good."

"Yeah, yeah." Yusuke replied, tone unbelieving.

It took them well over an hour to look through the exhibit. Botan seemed fascinated with all of it while Kuwabara tried to keep an interested expression on his face, but Yusuke couldn't help but think of all the old stuff as junk. He was looking through junk to find a small piece of crest. It was a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack.

'Boring, boring, boring.' He yawned widely and loudly, small tears sliding out of the corners of his eyes then covered his mouth when a museum usher glared at him. 'Well excuse me for being bored to death in this place.'

Fay owed him big for making him step into a stupid museum, heck Kurama owed him big for coming up with the idea. He glanced around the large room containing who knew how much more junk and couldn't help but feel as if he'd been tossed into some hellish place. It was just so…boring!

'Fine! They can keep on looking for as long as they want! I'm out of here. It's obvious a piece of the crest isn't here anyway!' He turned, started stomping towards the exit that would lead him out onto the corridor when he caught a glimpse of someone making a turn into the next exhibit room. 'No way that was Hiei, he's with Kurama and Fay…right?' He supposed it wouldn't hurt to look.

Yusuke glanced around the room, spotting Botan looking at some old furniture with Kuwabara. 'I'll be back before they know it.' He quickly stepped through the door, his gaze scanning the people around him and managed to catch sigh of someone in black making their way through another door, one that was definitely off limits to visitors. 'What the heck.' Yusuke made his way to the open door, glanced around quickly then stepped through, closing the door behind him.

Stretched before him was a staircase that led down to, what he supposed, could be a basement. 'Alright, you wanna play cat and mouse; I'm all for it.' He took the stairs two at a time descending further and further until the stairs finally ended in a storage room filled with dozens of items under tarp, while other smaller pieces were filed in large steel shelves.

Here and there were mannequins dressed in different time periods. This far down nothing but silence prevailed. 'Kinda freaky.' He stepped of the stairs, walking through the large silent underground storage. Something caught his eye and he paused narrowing his eyes as he took a step closer to the shelf.

'No way.' He reached out; picking up the small glass case that contained the lower piece of what could only be a crest. This piece depicted the lower half of some type of bird with red feathers. 'Sorry museum people, but we need this more than you do.'

He pocketed the small glass case before turning. "About time you showed yourself." Yusuke smirked at the dark figure.

He must've mistaken the height, the guy standing before him was just slightly taller than him, his black and red hair was spiked but its direction wasn't upward, instead it spiked back and to his sides, a little like Kurama's own hair, while some of it half covered his left red eye.

He was dressed in a black jacket with two white stripes on each side and wore a large red belt over black pants. Although his hands were shoved into his pants pockets he could also see that he wore white gloves with strange red symbols on it.

"You managed to sense me, interesting. There are not many humans who could manage that." He spoke in a calm somewhat emotionless voice, but his eyes were lit with some inner emotion that made them almost glow.

Yusuke smirked at the guy's words. "I'm a little different than most humans. So what are you supposed to be; demon, werewolf, or angel?"

"None of the above." He responded. "My name is Eridanus and I am of the Dragon Faction. I understand you have someone who belongs to Astor."

Smirk in place Yusuke snorted in disbelief. "The name's Yusuke, and what, you didn't get the message from the last guy we fought? Oh yeah, he's dead. So I'll relay the message; anyone who wants to get to her comes through me,' he pointed at himself with his thumb. "And I've been told that's not an easy thing to do."

Both sounded as if they were having a simple conversation yet the power building in the room made tarp flutter as if in a sudden wind.

"I see." It was hard to tell when Eridanus's eyes had narrowed, yet they had, the glow within them intensifying. His power made the wind pick up around him, causing a small cyclone of dust to form. "You have nothing to gain from helping The Right, yet you do. We on the other hand have awaited her presence for centuries; give her to us and you shall be rewarded with anything you so desire."

"Riiight," Yusuke drawled. "And I'm supposed to overlook the fact that you're trying to use her against her will to take over the world and do who knows what, to everyone in it?"

The glow in his eyes dimmed as his face darkened. He snarled showing fangs. "The humans hunted us for centuries, bringing us almost to extinction! They did the same with every other faction! We simply demand justice!"

"Get over it; it's called the circle of life from what I've been told. Besides you're sort of justice would mean killing every human you could get your hands on. Even the innocent." Yusuke said.

Eridanus nodded slowly. "Yes; we will leave some alive as long as they bow to our faction, but for justice to be carried out we must have The Right. I give you one last chance, hand her over or die."

Yusuke's hand slowly rose; his forefinger pointed at the dragon. "No." He shot his spirit gun just as Eridanus moved, the dragon's speed catching Yusuke by surprise. His blast shattered an old Victorian piano, sending the pieces flying in all directions.

"Such impatience." Yusuke whirled in Eridanus's direction, his forefinger pointed.

Eridanus had a gloved hand up in front of his face, the red symbols glowing. "Don't you know the rules of this war, Yusuke? There must always be a Battle Field present when battle commences."

'No one mentioned that!' Yusuke complained silently, 'Though that could come in handy. I'd rather not destroy anything else…if that's what he's really doing.'

Eridanus spoke in a different language, like before Yusuke felt the battle field establish itself. Color seemed to fade out around him, the silence becoming more pronounced.

"Now we may begin." Yusuke concentrated on Eridanus, this time the dragon wouldn't catch him of guard. Yusuke's eyes widened, a small sound of surprise escaping his lips. He quickly turned in a circle looking for his opponent as the image faded from where he'd been standing.

"Fire; encircle and burn!" The words came from his left; he turned, registering the dragon's words in the back of his brain.

'Wait a minute what did he mean-'

"What the-!" He moved away as fire spread around him spilling upward like curtains, blocking his view. "Why don't you leave your circus tricks in your stupid bag and fight like a man!" Yusuke shouted, trying to keep himself from touching any of the fire. The heat radiating from it was already making him sweat, d he wiped his forehead. 'Damn it! I so didn't get enough information from Fay!'

"This is how I fight, human." The words came from behind him. He turned, singeing the end of his hood. He could barely see an outline behind the curtain of fire. "I am no psychic, even if I were, our way of using our power is much different than yours."

Yusuke could hear him scoff. "Pitiful; why The Right chose you to guard her, I will never know. Goodbye human." The fire began to close in around him.

'No way am I going down like this! No freakin way!' He pointed his forefinger once more. "Spirit Gun!" The blast of energy broke through the fire, not expecting it, Eridanus found himself hit head on. With a grunt of pain he was thrown back, hit a shelf and toppled to the ground followed by the large shelf and everything on it.

"Don't underestimate me you dumb ass!" Yusuke walked through the rubble with determination. "I'm not a weakling and you mistaking me for one was your first and last mistake!" Pointing to where he was buried, Yusuke began to power up once more. "Here's a little message for the rest of your friends if you manage to survive this: You come after Fay, you get your ass kicked!"

A leg sprang up from underneath the clutter, slamming into his arm, a second one would have hit his chest had he not blocked it, even then he found himself sliding back.

"To you she is The Right! Don't presume to call her even by her human name!" Eridanus snarled as he dug himself out and sprang forward.

Yusuke had enough time to note that his opponent's skin was beginning to look scaly; the fingers of his gloves had been torn, exposing steel color claws, before the dragon was on him. Yusuke let himself fall back, braced his right leg against the dragon's stomach and throwing him off. 'Looks like he's losing his cool, good. It'll make defeating him easier.' Something wet trickled down his lip. He wiped it off surprised to find blood. 'Note to self; he's really fast.' This time Yusuke sensed him and sent a right jab to his face, knocking the dragon back.

'Ouch!' Yusuke looked down at his fist flinching. 'And their skin is harder than rock, a lot harder.'

As the dragon flipped to his feet Yusuke rushed in, slamming his fists into Eridanus's face and stomach a couple of times, before throwing a swift kick to his midriff that sent the dragon flying into more shelves.

"Ready to give up?"

"Hardly." Eridanus stood, what could be seen of his body covered in red and black scales. "My scales are harder than diamonds. While your attacks have caused damage,' as if to accentuate this; blood began to drip from his forehead and lip, despite the scales his right eye looked swollen. The scales themselves actually looked dented, something that Eridanus noted with some surprise. "You haven't caused enough to get through to me."

"Oh, sorry, then let me fix that!" Yusuke rushed forward as Eridanus waved a right arm before him, speaking in another language.

"Not this time you don't!" Yusuke shouted as he hurled an upper jab; one that connected with what appeared to be an invisible shield in front of Eridanus. Yusuke's eyes widened in pain, and much like Eridanus had not long ago, was hurled back into crates.

'What was that-' he smashed into the crates, shattering them and sending old pottery in all directions. Yusuke slowly stood up, a hand to his jaw. 'It almost felt like I punched myself.'

"It's called a reflective shield: Anything you throw at me will be reflected back at you, how do you like hurting yourself, Yusuke?"

The teen spit out blood as stood up. "Can't say I appreciate the feeling." He took on a fighter's pose quickly trying to think. 'If every time I hit him I end up hurting myself this is going to be over real soon, with me on the losing end. There has to be something…' he watched his opponent carefully. 'He's just standing there not doing anything, but with that type of spell I can guess what he's thinking; let me pound myself and then he'll take me out.'

His opponent was recovering his cool while he was starting to lose it. He had no idea how to break through this barrier without kicking his own ass. 'Damn, sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.' Now he really wished he'd insisted on Fay coming with them. Even if she'd stayed with Botan and Kuwabara, she would have known when the battle field had been placed up and where. She could have told him how to kick this dragon's face in.

Eridanus watched as, for unknown reasons, Yusuke suddenly looked surprised but quickly recovered. His stance was even tenser but his eyes were solely on him. It didn't matter; his spell was already in progress. This simple spell was only to keep the boy occupied while his true spell weaved itself to completion. Then Yusuke would die.

He stepped closer. The boy pointed his finger at him, the tip glowing brighter and brighter. "Just to let you know; I have enough energy to blast us both into oblivion, I doubt your little shield could keep you safe for long. So I would suggest your next move be really well planned." Eyes narrowed Eridanus observed him. He looked like the type to do something stupid, but there was something in his voice, as if…as if he were just a little distracted by something else. 'What are you planning human?' Eridanus dismissed the thought. It didn't matter; his spell would soon be completed.

Yusuke's surprise had been because somehow he'd suddenly heard Fay's voice. It was as if she stood behind him whispering.

_"How come we didn't get a crash course on this?"_ he complained.

_"You did; this is a protective light spell, but that's not what you should be worrying about, Yusuke. Everything he's doing is only a distraction. Look at the floor, where it's been scorched."_

Yusuke glanced at it quickly, realizing it still looked…heated. _"He's preparing a spell called Inferno's Rage. Unless you can knock him out it's going to take place in about two minutes. I doubt you'll be able to survive it."_

Yusuke's body shook as it tensed a whole lot more. _"And how am I suppose to stop it when if I attack I'll be the one hitting myself!."_

The silence that followed made sweat run down his face. _"Of course! You play their game! I can't believe I'd forgotten this. When I say so I want you to pretend to run at him, then veer to where the spell has been placed. Listen carefully to my next words and do exactly as I say."_

'One minute.' Eridanus smiled. 'Goodbye, Yusuke.' He didn't step back as the boy suddenly blurred into action. Eridanus expected him to do this the hard way and try to get through his spell, but his certainty melted into shock as Yusuke veered at the last second, landing in the middle of his spell.

"Here goes nothing!" His next words echoed with someone else's, a female voice, and rooted to this one spot by shock, Eridanus could only watch.

"Fire that hides within the binds of darkness: I claim your strength for me! I wield you with my body, now let our rage burn and turn all we touch to cinder!"

'The Right! She's helping him!' There was no way a street punk like him would know where his spell was placed, much less how to counter it.

"Why!" he demanded. "Why choose him?" Yusuke's whole self burst into bright fire; a fire that Eridanus watched warily as he readied himself. He would not lose to this boy! He would show The Right that it was his faction that deserved to be blessed with her!

"This is it! I'm done playing with you!" Yusuke shouted as he flashed forward.

Eridanus was ready, his whole body now covered in scales, he blocked Yusuke's first punch with his right fist, not showing his anger and shock when the fiery punch shattered the first layer of scales. "I will not lose!" he howled.

"Well I'm not backing down so you better get used to the idea!" Yusuke shouted as he punched rapidly sending Eridanus into the defensive.

The battle became more frenzied, their speed blurring so that it looked as if the things around them were being broken, felled, or set on fire by a fiery wind that would not stand still. Yet within that wind Eridanus had abandoned his defense and started fighting back, determined to bring down the boy chosen by The Right.

Things scattered, exploded, the concrete floor shattered in different places as if meteors collided with it.

Yusuke slammed a fist into Eridanus's face, the dragon's scales breaking, blood spilling. Eridanus slammed his fist into Yusuke's cheek, the strength of their punches sending them both hurling in opposite directions. Both regained their balance quickly enough, skidding to a halt only to run at each other and continue fighting. Yusuke managed to gain a hold of one of Eridanus's arms and send him flying into the wall, cracking cement.

'Gotta end this quickly, before I run out of power.' He looked down at his fist. It was covered in fire, like the rest of him. 'That's it!' It wouldn't be the same thing but if this power was within him it meant that he could use it in kinda the same way. 'Here goes everything.' His thoughts took mere seconds as Eridanus fell to the floor, struggled to his feet and came at him again.

By that time, Yusuke was calling all the fire that surrounded him to his fists. "This ends it!" he shouted. "Phoenix blast!" His first strike was so strong that it disintegrated all the scales covering Eridanus's chest and stomach, the second burnt his skin and disintegrated the last of his scales.

The dragon's eyes widened, coughing up blood as he was lifted by the mere force of the attack. 'No…this…this can't happen…' As he faded into unconsciousness he thought that he caught sight of a figure behind Yusuke. 'You chose well…' He hit the floor rolling, coming to a stop as he slammed into the wall.

~I'll see you later, Yusuke~ He heard Fay's voice before her presence vanished. 'Yeah.' Yusuke thought, cautiously approaching the dragon, moving him with his foot. "Guess this means I win." He murmured, wiping blood from his cheek. "You know I could easily kill you now, and maybe I might regret it but I'm going to let you live. After all you gave me a pretty good workout."

This guy wasn't up there with Toguro but his spells made him more dangerous than Toguro. At least with him he'd known exactly what to expect, with these guys…'And these aren't even the ones in charge.' Which meant they'd need a heck of a lot more information about them and ways to counter their spells. 'I'm going to have a long talk with Fay about this stuff.' He turned away, finally remembering the small glass case he looked down at himself only to realize that his jacket and shirt had been burned off, his shoes looked half melted and his pants were a wreak.

"Ah hell!" he cursed. How was he supposed to go back up there looking like this?

A fissure of power ran through the room and the Battle Field vanished, returning everything to its previous state, except for the piano Yusuke had broken with one of his blasts.

'It has to be somewhere around here!' Urgently he started turning from one side to the other until he spotted what was left of his jacket. 'Too bad that thing doesn't take care of clothes.' He reached into the pocket of his jacket, feeling the pieces he scooped them out and threw the jacket away. "Damn it!"

The glass case had shattered; even worse the half of the crest had split into two. "What am I supposed to tell Fay now? Sorry I broke the damn crest?" he picked up the two broken pieces, attempting to fit them back together. "Come on, come on." He looked at the shelves, hoping there was some type of glue or something but stopped dead when he saw a bundle of clothes instead, with a pair of shoes next to it and a card with his name on it. Crest forgotten for the moment he walked over to it and picked up the card, turning it over he found writing on it.

_Thought you could use a change of clothes._

Frowning, Yusuke stared at the clothes. 'Not that I'm complaining, but at what point did someone sneak in here to leave this?' There was also the fact that he hadn't sensed anyone. 'I guess this is what they mean when they say not to look a gift horse in the mouth.' With a shrug Yusuke changed into the new clothes and climbed back up the stairs, peeking out cautiously to make sure that no one spotted him, he quickly moved out the door, closing it behind him and casually walking out of the room. Inside one of the pockets of his new jacket, his right hand clutched the pieces of the crest, wondering how mad Fay would be once he broke the news. 'I could always have Kuwabara break it to her.'

"Yusuke!" he started when he heard Botan's voice. He turned to his left where a set of stairs led down to the first floor. "Where have you been? We've been looking for you for over half an hour!"

"Yeah Urameshi; I felt that battle field thing go up but I couldn't find where it was. And since you're wearing different clothes I'm going to take a guess and say you were inside it."

"Yeah." Yusuke held up the pieces of the crest. "And this got broken while I was fighting."

Botan leaned in closer, gasping as she recognized it. "That's one of them!"

"One of what?" Kuwabara stepped closer, staring at the broken pieces for a count of five before he shouted in shock and took a step back. "You broke part of the crest, Urameshi!"

At the glares from people around them Yusuke shushed his friend. "Don't you think I know that? Fay's going to kill me." He whispered fervently then pushed it at Kuwabara. "So, Kuwabara ole pal, how bout you hand this over to Fay?" Yusuke smiled widely at Kuwabara, but the taller youth backed up.

"No way, Urameshi! I know what you're trying to do! I hand it over and get blamed for breaking it and no matter what I say you'll pretend you have no idea what I'm talking about!"

"Well duh, stupid."

Botan sighted as the two boys began to argue. 'This is getting us nowhere fast.' How were they going to break the news?

In the end they were escorted out of the museum by two glaring security guards while Botan apologized repeatedly for her friends' behavior.

Once the security guards had left, she glared at both of them, hands on hips. "They'll probably never let us back in there!"

"And that's a loss why?" Yusuke asked.

"Think, Yusuke, what if we need to go back inside?"

Yusuke shrugged it off and started down the street. "We'll just have to figure something out; we do have two expert thieves with us."

"A real man doesn't steal, Urameshi!" Yusuke ignored Kuwabara as a feeling came over him. From the way Kuwabara suddenly stopped and looked into the distance Yusuke knew he'd sensed it too.

"What's wrong you two?" Botan wanted to know, looking from one to the other.

"Damn it! I just finished fighting one of them! Can't we get a freaking break!" He ran off with Kuwabara right behind him.

"Would one of you mind telling me what's going on?" Botan demanded as she ran after them. "Another one of those battle fields just went up!" Kuwabara shouted over his shoulder, trying to keep up with Yusuke.

"We'll figure out what to do about the crest later, we have to get back!" Yusuke added.

Botan nodded, extending her hand. Her oar appeared in it and she jumped on, passing Kuwabara and slowing at Yusuke's side. "Come on, this'll be faster."

Without missing a step Yusuke jumped on.

"Hey you two! What am I supposed to do!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Catch up!" Yusuke called back.

'Easy for you to say; I'll never make it there in time.' Still his friends were in trouble and he had to help. 'Hey, maybe I'll even get there in time to save the day.' This brought a grin to his face. "Hang on guys; I'll save you all!"


	13. Chapter 13: Goldfish and Riddles

CHAPTER 12: Goldfish and Riddles

The small bell above the door rang as Hiei, Kurama, and Fay made their way out of the store. "This is one of the last stores." Fay's stance was dispirited as she looked back in through the glass window.

"Don't lose hope, remember this is only the first step in our search for the crest pieces, we also haven't heard from Yusuke either."

"I know you're right but still..."

"Did you really expect this to be as easy as finding the pieces in places like these?" Hiei scoffed.

Fay shook her head. "No, but I was hoping we'd at least find one."

"I suggest you stop hoping, it'll get you nowhere." Hiei started down the street.

"He means well, even if his manner is somewhat rough." Fay glanced up at Kurama. "Yeah, I kind of picked up on that."

He smiled down at her and her heart sped up, her cheeks reddening. "Uh…well, we better catch up!" Her manner overly cheerful Fay ran after Hiei.

Puzzled, Kurama watched her go. 'And I thought we had made some progress.' She'd been just a little skittish around him while they looked through the stores, preferring to stay near Hiei rather than him. She was a conundrum he could not yet figure out.

'Guys like me…what exactly could she have meant by that?'

_"Are you going to stand there all day, Kurama?"_ His thoughts interrupted, Kurama headed after them. _"Sorry, I was somewhat preoccupied."_ He sent back.

_"It's not something that usually happens to you."_ At Hiei's words a dry smile passed over Kurama's lips._ "True."_

The conversation was interrupted when Fay recalled their attention. "So do you think Yusuke and the others might have at least found a clue?" she asked.

"No." Was Hiei's abrupt response. She seemed to deflate but before Kurama could soften his friend's words she bounced right back. "Oh well, nothing worth gaining was ever easy to obtain." With a bright smile on her lips, she wrapped her arms around one of Hiei's, to the fire demon's surprise. "At least I've got you guys to help out."

Hiei recovered swiftly enough and glared up at her. "Release my arm before I tear both of yours off." Fay's smile turned interested. "Really? Have you actually ever done that?"

The fool actually sounded curious! If she knew what he was truly capable of she'd most likely fear him, like anyone in their right mind would. He glanced over at Kurama; although his expression could be called pleasant if somewhat distant, his eyes gave him away. They told him he was less than pleased with what he was seeing.

"I'm giving you one last warning to release my arm or-" He never finished.

Fay suddenly let go, her eyes set on some distant view that only she could see.

"Fay is something wrong?" Kurama stepped forward, raising a hand to settle on her shoulder, but she took off at a run.

"Fay!" He shouted.

Fay didn't slow; it was as if she'd completely forgotten they were there. Hiei vanished, reappearing in her path. "Stop now!" he grabbed her arm, holding on when she started struggling to get free.

"Enough, snap out of it Fay!" Kurama caught her by the shoulders, shaking her gently.

Finally the girl blinked, coming out of her trance, and looked up at him. "Kurama? Is something wrong?"

"You tell us." Fay's attention switched to Hiei. "You suddenly took off without warning. Care to too enlighten us as to why?"

'I did what?' Fay tried thinking back. "I was…but then…" Her eyes widened, looking in the direction she'd been moving. "My brother! I heard him, Ryan's here and I think he's in trouble!" She struggled to get out of Kurama's hold but although his grip was gentle, it was impossible to break.

"Think; these factions will try whatever they think necessary to capture you. It is more probable that your brother is not here and that they're using some sort of spell, an illusion perhaps."

Fay stilled at his words.

He was right of course; it was just that…"What if we're wrong and he is here?" she asked earnestly. "He might need help."

"You two wait here, I'll go take a look." Hiei said.

"No wait!" Fay approached Hiei as Kurama finally released her.

"What now?" he asked sounding irritated.

Fay hesitated. On one hand she wanted to make sure it wasn't her brother who'd called for help…on the other hand, she didn't want Hiei to walk into a trap, if that's what this was.

The best thing, in her mind, was for her to go take a look, but she supposed that's what they were trying to avoid.

Finally she reached into her sweater pocket, unclipping one she offered it to Hiei. "Take this with you, even if you think it's stupid. It's part of my good luck charm and it'll make me feel better if you have it with you." Before Hiei could reject her offering he caught Kurama's eye. Reluctantly took it from her. "Exactly how's this supposed to help if it is a trap?' there was contempt in his voice as he studied her good luck charm.

What he'd been handed was a small aquamarine goldfish that although small had great detail. He could already tell that whoever had crafted this had gone through a lot of trouble to make it look as realistic as possible.

"It would bring you good luck of course." Fay responded cheerfully. Hiei glanced at her in disbelief.

"Trust me okay."

"Hmp!" Turning away, he left.

"If it is your brother, we'll save him." Kurama said stepping to her side. Looking into the distance, Fay nodded. 'Thank you." From her pocket she pulled out the bracelet, holding it between clenched hands. "I do miss him, I miss all of them but…but I just don't want him to be in danger."

It was one of the reasons she'd left home. Fay wasn't so sure that the rules would be followed, but if she was nowhere near her family they would concentrate on her, not them.

"May I see it?" Fay looked up at Kurama, then down at her bracelet. "Oh, sure." She handed over the bracelet at the same time that she took a step away from Kurama. Pretending he hadn't noticed, Kurama examined the bracelet.

There were six more small goldfish, each of them carefully carved with their own distinct patterns, interspersed were beads ranging in blue colors and each one also unique, much like the goldfish themselves. He'd noted that the goldfish she'd given Hiei was of an aquamarine shade and although the rest were much like the beads in their different shades of blues, no other fish had the same color. "It's beautiful; who gave this to you?" he handed it back to her.

"My grandmother." Fay answered, taking the bracelet back. "She made it for me a few weeks before I was born. My mother said that she woke up one day, saying she had to start on a very important project. Grandmother spend hours working on it none stop until she finished it."

Her eyes warmed as she recalled her grandmother. "I remember sitting by her bedside when she got sick and asking her why she'd decided to make it. She told me that one night she'd had a strange dream, it had been foggy and she couldn't remember much of it, but she told me that I had a difficult road ahead. Then she gave me these words; seven stars shall your path make, seven stars shall your fate decree. Fear not what lies in darkness; heed not what appears as light. The stars will mark your passage, and by deed carve your path."

"It sounds like something a fortune teller would tell you." Kurama said.

Fay nodded. "I know, but my grandmother wasn't a fortune teller…well she is something of a Wiccan, but then again she also tends to act a lot like a teenager, or so my mother tells me. Personally, I think she's fun."

Kurama smiled. "Someone who would go through so much trouble to carve something so beautiful must be a wonderful person, tell me, where is she now?

Fay frowned in thought. "Well…I think she and grandpa were headed for Africa…she did say something about cracking down on any poacher she could get her hands on…but then she added something about their necks..."

Kurama sweat dropped.

"No, wait…I think it may have been the Himalayas they were headed for. According to my mom, my grandmother wants to climb Mount Everest. Then she said something about arranging a funeral but I couldn't really hear her since she closed the car door behind her."

"I see…" An uncertain smile on his face, Kurama continued. "When was the last time you saw her?"

Fay shrugged. "About a year and half ago. She was supposed to stay with us for Christmas but the riffles were the last straw for my mom, and a very loud conversation later, my grandparents decided to leave."

It wasn't often that Kurama found himself robbed of words but…well there really wasn't anything to say to that. Now he understood why she didn't seem to mind Hiei, on the contrary she…clung to him. "Did you ever figure it out? What she meant by those words?" he asked instead.

Fay shook her head. "No, but I think it may have to do something with this situation." She just needed to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Which reminded her… "I have a question, Kurama."

"I will try to answer it to the best of my ability." He responded.

Had she not been so curious, Fay would probably have taken a couple dozen steps away from him the moment he'd turned that smile on her. "Uhh…" What was it that she was supposed to ask…'Oh yeah.' "The guy from two days ago, the one with white hair and fox features; where did he go? I never had a chance to thank him." Kurama abruptly turned away, his smile disappearing. "He was merely passing by, I doubt if we'll ever see him again."

"Oh."

Kurama glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She sounded disappointed, did she truly want to see his demon self? 'Impossible.'


	14. Chapter 14: Magus

CHAPTER 13: Magus

Hiei dashed over the rooftops, a flash any human happening to look up would be unable to catch sight off.

"Her brother, hmp!" Another bleeding heart, just like the rest of the fools he was forced to spend time with, although he would admit if only to himself, that she wasn't half as bad as he had thought her at the start, but like the rest of those fools, she didn't show him half the respect and fear he deserved. 'Foolish human!' Now here he was off on a wild goose chase because Fay thought her brother was in trouble.

He felt the power building and jumped back as the strike of purple energy flashed through where he'd stood. The second strike was much faster, taking him by surprise. Hiei braced himself for pain that never came. He landed on a rooftop surrounded by a warm glow of aquamarine light. Immediately he knew what the cause was. 'So it is of some worth.'

His attacker landed on a rooftop opposite him. Tall, with a gentle face Hiei didn't buy for a second; he wore robes of black and violet, black boots encased his feet and he held a sword in his right hand.

"You are one who keeps Fayre prisoner?" the stranger asked.

Hiei scoffed. "If by that you mean we protect Fay then yes, but understand this; we've never kept her prisoner. It was her choice to stay with us and away from the likes of you." The stranger's lashes fell to half mast. "You call her Fay. She…has given you her permission to be so familiar with her?"

Hiei didn't believe it was that important but even that dead fool Sandulf had made a big deal out of them calling her by her given name. "What of it?" he responded.

The man's hold on the sword in his hand tightened. "By the end of this battle, you will know."

Hiei gripped the hilt of his sheathed katana readying himself to strike.

The battle field going up in the distance distracted both of them. "I knew this was a trap." Hiei turned back to the stranger. "I have no time to play games with you; this battle will have to wait."

The man nodded. "Yes, we will continue this later, when the danger to Fayre has been dealt with." Hiei was already moving back the way he'd come.

The Battle Field rose around them without warning. Kurama quickly placed himself between Fay and the owner of the footsteps. The figure was shapely, that of a woman's with a dancer's grace and silken blond hair. She could even be called an art work in aesthetics.

Kurama didn't like her; there was something cold about her, much like a glazier. He heard Fay inhale in surprise. "Corentin!" It sounded like an accusation.

"I take it you've met before?"

Fay nodded. "Yeah, she tried to take me against my will…err…well I guess that isn't a big surprise but she broke the rules!"

The woman's smile was surprisingly cool but the movement of her arm as she waved Fay's accusation aside was elegance in motion. "The Guardian is not here, and I see you have a defender this time."

Kurama tensed as if offended, when she began to peruse him, appreciation in her eyes. "My but you do have fine taste, he is beautiful." His eyes hardened as they met hers, then widened in surprise when the shoe hit Corentin on the forehead and Fay was suddenly standing in front of him as if to protect him.

The woman reeled back, slapping a gloved hand to the red spot on her forehead.

"You stay away from him!" Fay snapped hands spread out at her sides.

Corentin hissed, anger in her eyes. "If you were not The Right I would kill you for such an act upon my person!" Fay stuck her tongue out. "You'd have to catch me first, _old hag_." She sneered.

The Mage snarled something in another language and wind howled like razors headed for them. Kurama wrapped his arms around Fay's waist, pulling them out of the way to avoid the attack. The spell hurled past, colliding with a bench, shredding it into small pieces that rained down like hail.

"While I appreciate your defense of me,' he let go of her, stepping up in front of her once more. "Remember what she is and that I am protecting you." He flashed her a smile that left her feeling a little bemused. "Stay there, I will take care of our uninvited guest." Kurama turned back to the Mage; reaching behind his head he pulled forth a red rose.

Corentin paid him no attention as she fixed the damage the wretched girl had done to her beautiful skin. She glanced down, stepping on the shoe, digging her stiletto into it. "Right or not, you will pay for this!"

"You will have to go through me first." Her attention returned to the red head as he stepped forward. "Rosewhip!"

Corentin found herself enchanted by the rainfall of petals. "Turning a rose into a deadly weapon; my, my but you truly must be special." She purred.

Fay glared daggers at the taller woman. "Just in case you were wondering; I've got another shoe!" The girl threatened. Besides a warning glance from Kurama, both paid her little attention. Instead they circled, sizing each other up.

"I offer you a chance you join me. I'm sure together we could accomplish quite…a lot."

Kurama didn't bother with an answer but simply observed. She would make the first move.

Once he'd assessed her strengths and weaknesses he would find the quickest way to defeat her. He was finding being in her company rather offensive.

Her right hand moved in a graceful circle. "Water, slice down from your skies." Kurama dodged as water began to rain down, hitting concrete and slicing it in half.

'Wind and water.' He dove to the left. 'If she can use more than these two elements this won't be an easy fight to win.'

As he back-flipped away from more projectiles he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Hiei.

His question was answered when the fire demon appeared above the Mage, slicing down with his sword. She yelped, raising her right hand, water coalesced above her, stopping the downward strike.

At the same time her attack on Kurama ended. Kurama came to a stop as a purple blur flashed by him, slamming into Corentin, sending her flying backwards.

"Perfect timing, as always Hiei." Kurama commented as he stood.

Hiei glanced back at him. _"You play dangerously, Kurama. Waiting to asses even this enemy's strengths and weaknesses."_ Kurama merely smiled pleasantly. "Fay's brother?" he inquired out loud.

"A mere trick by this dark woman, most likely she believed you would leave Fay behind and go seek out answers yourselves." Kurama looked to the newcomer. He would have asked who he was but Fay's outburst answered his question.

"Zadkiel! I thought I told you to stay put!" she sounded irritated. Zadkiel shot a charming smile, one she countered with a glare of growing annoyance. "I could not have stayed frozen in your room forever, think what your family would have said." Fay shook her head. "Don't play innocent, you know what I mean."

"You traitor!" Corentin's angry shriek recalled their attention; she'd already gotten to her feet and now glared with hostility at the Malaika. "You dare side with those who would take The Right away from us!" The facade of beauty began to fade as rage twisted her beautiful features into ugliness.

Zadkiel pointed his sword at her. "I side with no one but my beloved."

"I'm not your anything!" she called over his words. He sent her that smile again. Fay couldn't help but roll her eyes.

'Yet another male she has not trouble speaking too, what is it that she finds so frightening in me that no other male, even those trying to use her, lack?' Kurama couldn't help but wonder.

Corentin snarled something in a language he couldn't make out and something rose behind him. He quickly turned noting that the other two did as well; facing whatever the mage had called forth.

'What!' Kurama found himself facing…himself, or at least a shadow of himself. Completely black, the being wielded a black rosewhip the twin of his own.

"Playing with shadows now, Mage?" Zadkiel scoffed over his shoulder at Corentin.

"You and I have different standards, Malaika,' the way she said the word, it sounded like a curse. "I do what I must so that our faction will gain victory." She motioned with her left hand. "My shadows destroy them!"

Kurama brought his rosewhip forward in a slash at the same moment his shadow did the same.

Hiei's blade met that of his shadow; both stayed locked in place trying to push the other back, but neither would give way, at least until Hiei's blade broke and he had no choice but to back away or get cut in half. 'I guess it's to be expected.' Hiei looked at the half of the blade he still held in his hand, then back at his shadow. 'But if she expects me to think that this imitation is better than I am, I'll show her how wrong she is.'

Zadkiel sidestepped as the shadow launched forward, taking the opportunity he brought his sword down on the shadow's neck, decapacitating it. The shadow changed into black smoke and vanished.

"Mind telling us how you did that?" As much as it irked him to ask, Hiei would prefer to end this quickly. "Simple." Zadkiel replied as he calmly turned to Corentin. "Do not calculate your moves; these things can only follow that which you have already thought."

'I see.' Kurama dodged the black rosewhip and ran past his shadow while Hiei threw what was left of the sword like a dagger, one the shadow quickly blocked only to dissolve into smoke when Hiei slammed the other half of his sword through its back. Kurama's shadow burst into bloom, swallowed whole.

"Such paltry spells will get you nowhere, Mage." Zadkiel took a step to his left, Kurama and Hiei to his left and right.

'He's not going to be easy to defeat.' Kurama glanced at the taller man. He was quick on his feet, almost faster than Hiei, his attacks showed that every single one of his moves was never wasted and always calculated, even if he was not aware of it. Kurama still didn't understand why instead of siding with Corentin he'd sided with them, but one thing he knew for certain, he would turn on them the moment the Mage fell.

All this went through his head in the seconds that it took him to turn back to Corentin, who now opened her right hand, a small glowing sphere in her palm. Kurama tensed. 'What could she be planning now?'

Beside him Zadkiel hissed. "Stop her now!" Hiei didn't waste any time asking why, he charged, as did Kurama, both a step behind Zadkiel. Corentin laughed in triumph as Fay cried out. Zadkiel brought his sword forward to strike, but like Hiei and Kurama, met a barrier in between them and Corentin.

Wasting no time, Kurama ran to Fay who was on her knees, head clutched between her hands. "Fay!" he skidded to a halt at her side and knelt. "What's wrong?" She didn't answer, but her skin had begun to turn pale.

Anger in his eyes he turned to Corentin, who still laughed. What exactly have you done to her?"

"I am a Mage, fools! We always think ahead more than a few simple steps." She smirked as Hiei and Zadkiel tried their way through her force field once more. "Do not bother. I planned this even before I made myself known. What the Malaika said is true; I did call The Right with her brother's voice, but I also knew that the most it would do was take one of her guardians away." She turned cold eyes on Zadkiel. "I did not count on Azrael sending one of his own so soon, but it is of little consequence to my plan, as you can well see."

The sphere in her hand had begun to turn aquamarine as Fay's skin color bleached and she swayed. Corentin regarded Kurama. "As for what I did; let me introduce you to a little spell I found in one of the lost scrolls of Alexandria." She lifted the sphere a little higher. "This is called 'The Soul's Keeper; as you can see, all I need from the owner of the soul I wish to capture is something that belongs to them, and although I was planning on taking a sample of her hair, her shoe did just as well."

At Fay's side, Kurama glanced around for her shoe, but all he located was a small puddle of melted material near Corentin's feet. That had to be it. 'I wish you had controlled your temper better.' Kurama wrapped his arms around Fay as the girl collapsed. Still, there had to be a way to stop this!

Even while he tried to break through once more, Hiei couldn't help but wonder why the shoe was thrown in the first place, but he suppose he'd get the story from her when all this was over. He started taking the bandages of his arm. It seemed he'd really have to get serious, before the woman took all of Fay's soul.

"As soon as this sphere turns completely aquamarine I will have The Right's soul, and this war shall be won." Her smile was triumphant as she watched Hiei unwrap his arm. "Whatever you're planning, I hope it doesn't involve striking me, you never know when that would cause me to drop the sphere and let it break." Hiei hesitated for the slightest of second before dropping the bandages to the ground. "I'll take my chances."

"Hiei, no!" Kurama called to his friend. He glanced down at the unconscious girl, then at Hiei. 'There must be another way.' He gently placed her on the ground and stood up running to Hiei as he powered up.

Narrowed eyed, Zadkiel watched Hiei for a second before looking back at the sphere. Whatever Hiei did, he would be ready to catch the sphere if it did fall, but he doubted the woman would be so foolish. She knew what it would mean, she was bluffing, she had to be. "Let him try." His words stopped Kurama. "Just be ready to catch it." Uncertainty in his eyes Kurama nodded. 'It seems the only way.' He just hoped it work.

That's when she shrieked, her triumphant smile vanishing from her face as the aquamarine sphere suddenly turned white and exploded gently into a shower of sparks. "This is impossible! How could she have escaped it! It's…it's impossible!" Eyes wide in disbelief, Corentin fell to her knees. Zadkiel slammed a fist against the shield. "Where did it go!" He demanded.

Expression panicked Corentin shook her head. "I…I don't know but…but…" She was left speechless. How could she have escaped? It was true that she was The Right, but she remembered very little, if anything of her past. It just couldn't happen…unless... "Something or someone must have called her; the call must have been strong enough to break my hold on her soul."

Zadkiel dismissed her. "We must find her; a soul alone can only last a minimal amount of time."

"And where do you expect we start looking when not even she knows where the soul went?" Hiei demanded to know.

Behind them Corentin climbed to her feet and faced them. "Wherever the soul went, I will find it." She raised a hand. "Seekers who hide within the winds, I call you to find the soul calling herself Fayre." The wind stirred around them then settled. "And now, I will finish all of you off." She pointed her forefinger at them and spoke. The ground beneath began to tremble.


	15. Chapter 15: Mage's Fall, Angel's Rise

CHAPTER 14: Mage's fall, Angel's Rise

Hands clutched to her chest, Fay silently watched as the three faced off against the shadows Corentin had called forth. 'I really wish I could do more than just watch.'

Back home she would never have just watched a fight, but then again the fights had never been like this. No one had had any type of powers, it'd just been fists. Not to mention that fights were usually kept to a minimum. 'I have to…I have to do something.' She just didn't know what.

It was at that point that she caught herself swaying, as if tired. 'What's wrong now?' She suddenly felt a wrench deep within her; as if someone were trying to rip her away from her skin. Crying out she fell to her knees. Moments later she heard Kurama's voice, but at that point couldn't make anything out.

The pain surrounded her, threatened to drown her, she opened her mouth to scream and found her voice gone. Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and she tried to reach for him. 'Kurama.' Her mouth refused to make the words and her world began to fade but as it did, she felt it. 'Yusuke...he's in trouble.' So she had to find a way to get to him.

For a while, seconds, minutes, hours, she couldn't tell- Fay simply knew that she floated in a sea of nothingness until she managed to lock on to Yusuke's spirit energy and pull herself out of the darkness towards him. It was slow going, as if she dragged herself on hands through thorny ground, each inch forward made her cry out, or it would have if she'd had a voice. 'How can I feel this…this pain when I have no body?' It didn't matter; they were in this mess because of her, so she would do whatever she could to help them, as small as that help was.

Finally, finally she reached the light, tumbled into it…and found herself in an underground storage facility, or at least it looked like that, except it was a mess, but more importantly. _"Yusuke! I found you!"_

Yusuke tensed as he heard the relieved, happy exclamation. _"How are you here? Don't tell me you got yourself killed again!"_ Still watching Eridanus, Yusuke listened for her reply.

_"Of course not. Hiei and Kurama wouldn't let that happen…"_ she paused trying to come up with a plausible explanation. _"Uh…I felt the battle field going up, but…err… I knew we would never get back in time so I kinda…thought about getting to you."_ 'At least that part's true.' Fay thought. _"And I followed the light here, to you. So…I'm pretty sure I fainted back there."_

Yusuke wasn't sure if he believed her, but he'd get the truth out of her later, for now…_"How come we didn't get a crash course on this?"_ Yusuke listened to her answer, then demanded to know how exactly he was supposed to get out of this. When Fay finally came up with a solution he almost relaxed, but reminded himself to keep the same stance, he couldn't give anything away. _"Okay, so I say those corny words and what's supposed to happen?"_

He could feel her smile. _"Then you turn the tables. Do it now!"_

Fay found herself right behind Yusuke as he ran to the spell; she recited the words with him, giving it whatever power she had and couldn't help but silently cheer when it worked. ~Now, go kick his butt, Yusuke!~ she cheered.

He did just that, and as Eridanus fell, Fay faintly heard his words echo to her. 'I didn't choose them,' she couldn't help thinking. 'They chose me.' And for that she was grateful.

_"I'll see you later, Yusuke."_ Fay sent him as her consciousness moved in another direction. She had to get back to Hiei and Kurama…and Zadkiel too. Even if she couldn't help them, she needed to be there.

This time it felt as if she climbed and climbed; always upwards and she began to feel more weight. At what felt halfway up Fay realized the weight was her body. 'I'm almost there guys, just hold on.' Fay fell, and her eyes opened slowly as she got to her knees, eyes wide at the scene before her.

Kurama and Zadkiel were trapped by earth, it wrapped around them, and although she could see Kurama's plants slowly eating away at the soil, Corentin's chanting was gaining more power. Not far from them was a large pile of dirt tightening around itself ever so slowly.

Hiei took a step back as he tried keeping his balance on the trembling earth. 'What now?' Didn't these beings ever run out of energy? That's all he had time to wonder as the earth burst up like a geyser spilling water. He somersaulted away, avoiding the earth clamping around him to land a few feet from Kurama. "Any ideas?" he asked.

Kurama shook his head. "Not at the present, but I'm working on it. Although I believe the first thing we must do is break through her barrier." They separated, each moving away from another earth geyser.

For his part, Zadkiel unfurled white wings behind him and took to the air, but even there he found he had to dodge the upward blasts from the ground. As he dodged he heard Corentin call on another spell. 'Vile woman!' he silently snarled.

The first three strikes of razor wind missed him, but he failed to hear her next spell and lightning struck him. He cried out in pain and fell from the skies, directly into the spilled earth. It wrapped around him, feeling as hard as concrete. He began struggling, only to realize that it tightened around him at any sign of movement. 'I can't…I can't call on my own power this way.' He'd thought that being on the wind would afford him that time; he should have remembered about her other spells, but Fay, he needed to find her soul!

Kurama dove to his left, his right hand landing on a sharp rock; he winced but continued his momentum. 'He's been captured.' He looked at the now imprisoned Zadkiel. 'This isn't good.' Feeling the earth tremble dangerously beneath him he pushed himself to his feet, swiftly moving away but as he did the earth around him crumbled, spilled upward around him before it fell, burying him in it.

Beneath the earth, Kurama struggled to hold his breath and struggle upward. This was too much like being buried alive. Against his will his mouth opened, seeking oxygen, but encountered only dirt. He coughed, struggling against the earth and found himself thrown upward, the earth closing around his body. He spit out the dirt in his mouth as he struggled. ~Hiei!~ he called to his friend.

_"I'm a little busy right now."_

Kurama blinked green eyes open, looking for Hiei. The fire demon had jumped into the air, no doubt powering up his darkness flame technique, but before he could even get it started a bolt of lightning sizzled down. It hit, or it would have had not an aquamarine shield suddenly sprung into life around him. However, the attack was enough to distract the fire demon and he landed on the ground where, much like Kurama, earth spilled up and around him, burying him.

Vines burst into life in the dirt Kurama was trapped in. The dirt slowly began to give way, but Kurama knew it would take some time._ "Hiei!"_ he called mentally to his friend.

_"I'm fine! Just trapped for now."_ Kurama relaxed slightly. _"How?"_

_"The charm."_ was all the reply Kurama got before Hiei burst out of the earth, the aquamarine shield around him.

"Hiei!"

Everyone's attention swiveled to Fay as she stood and ran to him.

"Stay back!" He warned. She stopped, her gaze on him, then slowly turned to take in Zadkiel and finally Kurama. It lingered there even as Corentin laughed. "So, you managed to find your way back before my spell could find you. No matter, I am almost done with these three."

Eyes dark in anger, Fay turned to Corentin. "Let them go!" she bit out through gritted teeth, her hands curled into fists.

Corentin smirked haughtily. "No, that would be counterproductive to my plan. I'll deal with you as soon as I'm done with them." The Magus continued her chant, completely dismissing Fay.

Hiei landed besides her. "I can get through her shield, but I'd like to know, if I use it, what exactly would happen with all that chanting she's doing?"

Fay shook her head. "I'm not sure; it may release the power building but…but I'm just not sure. It could very well kill us."

Hiei gritted his teeth. "Great; so I don't use it, Kurama and your Malaika friend might as well be dead. I use it and I may kill us all."

Fay gave a slight nod. "Pretty much." But they couldn't just stand here! Kurama was in pain, and she could see his vines were losing ground as more earth rose to replace what was lost.

"Get her out of here Hiei!" her eyes widened at Kurama's words. He looked back at them, his left eye closed in pain. "She must be protected!"

"Are you out of your mind, Kurama!" Hiei demanded.

Fay pursed her lips, a stubborn light in her eyes. There was no way she was just going to leave! 'There has to be a way to stop Corentin's chanting and release her spell without killing all of them…'

She raced to think of a way, finally recalling something. Fay looked to Hiei. "Even a mage has a way to channel her power! The Wizards often use staffs,' she whirled towards Corentin. "She must have a way to channel her own power as well. If we could destroy them…" her eyes roamed the woman's figure trying to figure out what she used.

"That would work, except we have the same problem; her shield." Hiei reminded her in a condescending tone.

'Not the time to argue.' Fay reminded herself before she snapped at him. Right now what mattered was helping her friends. Her eyes landed on Corentin's neck. 'The pearls; maybe that's what Corentin's using.'

They'd been on her last time too, but now there was the problem of the shield. Hiei left her side, charging the shield once more but as soon as he left her side the earth began to spill up again, had it not been for the shield that rose around him he would have been captured. 'Wait a minute…shield?' Fay looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. 'Aquamarine in color…' she looked back up, determination in her stance as she took off running. 'You always did say I should take bigger chances, grandma. So here I go!'

"What do you think you're doing!" Hiei started after her, dodging back as another stream of earth spilled a few feet before him.

"Fay!" Kurama shouted after her. She smiled in reassurance as she passed by him. "I have a plan, trust me." He looked startled at her words but Fay, having turned away, missed it. She hurled herself at the shield and instead of feeling as if she'd hit a wall, energy zapped around her like lightning. A pain filled yelp escaped her lips as she pushed onward determinably.

It worked, slowly she began to move through, then Hiei was besides her, adding the strength of his charm to hers. That was all that was needed. They broke through the shield as Corentin, gaze unbelieving, yet her lips still moving in a chant, faced them. She pointed at them, but Fay was ready, she threw her second shoe at her, hitting her in the left eye as Hiei dashed forward and slashed at the pearls around her neck with his broken sword.

The pearls being what they were, it might not have been enough, but at some point he'd taken Fay's bracelet and wrapped it around the hilt of his broken sword. What was left of the blade glowed multicolored, and grew completing the blade and slashing through the pearls before Corentin could recover. The Mage shrieked in denial as the pearls spilled down and broke on the ground, revealing blue sapphires inside them.

The invisibility illusion she'd had on the rest of the gems wrapped around her arms in fine chains broke and Hiei quickly slashed at them. They tumbled to the ground, the shield Corentin had on around her fell away. The earth keeping Kurama and Zadkiel prisoner collapsed.

Fay picked up her shoe, put it back on and grabbed Hiei's arm as he came to a stop at her side, pulling him away. "We might want to stand way back." She advised. Hiei wrapped an arm around her waist, moving them quickly to a safe distance as power began to wrap around Corentin, back lashing now that she had no control over it. From their viewpoint it appeared as if she were trapped within a tornado, blood seeping from an ever increasing amount of cuts on her skin.

Fay couldn't help but wince at the pain Corentin must be suffering. Sure the woman was vile and she'd hurt her friends but…but…'I can't just stand by and watch her get killed.' Hurt to the point of being wrapped up like a mummy sure, but not killed. "We need to help her." Fay said.

"Are you out of your mind? That power looks like a ticking time bomb, getting near it is not something I'd advice." Hiei scoffed.

Fay turned to Kurama. "Please, we can't just…" Sympathy in his eyes, Kurama shook his head. "There's nothing we can do; she's reaped what she sowed." Her gaze went to Zadkiel but his hard gaze gave her the same answer.

"You don't understand! I don't want anyone dying because of me!" Fay would have run forward but Hiei took a hold of her right arm while Kurama restrained her left.

"Fool! Even if we could help her, she'd only come after you again." Hiei tried to reason.

"I know but still…" Fay stepped back, wincing as something dug into her foot. "Okay, I won't go." 'Yet.' She silently added. With some reluctance they let her arms go and she knelt. Taking off her shoe, she looked inside, her eyes widening at what she found. 'They must have fallen in when Hiei broke the chains.'

Corentin's screams increased as the power wrapping around her began to collapse in on her. "We should stand further back, the explosion will not- Fay!" Zadkiel called as the girl rushed forward. Hiei quickly caught up to her but even as he did she'd stopped and started throwing small projectiles. "What are you doing now?" Hiei demanded.

"Here, help!" The girl handed him two small sapphires. His inclination was to drag her back to the others and get the hell out of here but…'What the hell.' He aimed and threw the sapphires as a burst of wind from the energy tornado hit them, they braced against it and he threw the second gem before pulling her back, ready to drag her if needed but she turned on her own and followed him.

Energy sizzled as the tornado imploded, though not enough to kill Corentin, then suddenly broke apart exploding outward. Corentin tumbled to the ground, the broken gems they'd thrown fell around her, glowing with pure energy before shattering, not even dust left behind.

'I see.' Kurama thought. The gems had taken into them enough power to stop it from killing Corentin; the rest had broken into several different blasts of energy. "Well thought."

Fay gave him a tired smile. "Thanks, are you alright?" he nodded. "Yes, tired and a bit sore but otherwise fine." She smiled in relief, turned to Hiei and hugged him. "Thank you! You are awesome!" Once more, Hiei found himself surprised by her actions, although as before he recovered quickly, at least until she fell to her knees and started crying.

"What could there possibly be to be crying about? We're alive aren't we?" He said brusquely. Fay nodded wiping tears from her cheeks.

"I believe that is why she's crying." Kurama knelt in front of her and offered a gentle smile, hoping she wouldn't suddenly bolt. "It's alright, everything is fine now."

Fay nodded knowing that she looked like a total crybaby, but she couldn't help it. Underneath it all she'd been scared, scared that her new friends would die because of her, even that Zadkiel would die, as annoying as he was proving to be. She was just so relieved that well, she cried. Not that she was planning on making it a common thing.

Hiei had turned half away from her as she cried, although he stayed close to them, Kurama wrapped his arms around her shoulders and let her cry. Zadkiel stood to the side, his eyes hooded as he watched the three.

It was confusing to him, the way they, she behaved towards them. Could Azrael have been wrong? Was there more here that he was missing? But no, he had the memories to prove it, and although his heart told him something was wrong he took it to be the fact that she stood at their side and not at his.

As the Battle Field Corentin had placed up vanished, his own took its place, and finally he could feel all his power at his grasp. The dampening spells Corentin had placed up were gone. The advantage was now his. It should bother him, that his opponents were tired; a small part of him said to retreat and leave it for another day but…his hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. He couldn't. She belonged to him! He would have her back!

"This may not seem honorable to you, indeed I know it is not, but,' he leveled his sword at them as they turned his way. "I will not be swayed from my original course. I came here to take Fay with me, and I will do so, even if I must kill you two to do it."

Kurama dropped his arms from around Fay and stood, retrieving a red rose from his hair. "I thought you would do as much."

Beside him now stood Hiei, his newly mended sword in hand. "Don't expect us to go easy on you simply because we fought together. You're the one who's chosen to become our enemy."

Zadkiel gave a sharp nod. "I would expect nothing less."

Behind Kurama and Hiei, Fay sighted wiping the last of her tears away. God she'd turned into such a girl in just a few days. Her friends wouldn't recognize her, dare she say they would actually cringe in horror, and the women in her family (her grandmother on her mother's side excluded) would cheer- though at least not at the circumstances. She had a very good excuse for acting like a baby! But she'd think of it later, right now it was time to pull herself together. They were all tired; she couldn't allow Zadkiel to fight Hiei and Kurama.

"Zadkiel stop it!" Fay snapped angrily as she stood, glaring over Hiei's shoulder. "I'm tired, they're tired and you're tired, so drop it! Whatever little illusions you've made of me, give them up! Because I am not, nor will I ever love you." The words were delivered cuttingly.

Kurama could almost feel sorry for Zadkiel, who winced at her words as if she'd actually hit him. Fay had a sharp tongue when she needed it. However the Malaika's stance was no less determined. "Then you will not come willingly?"He offered her another chance. Fay shook her head. "No…let me rephrase that; hell no."

Light swirled around Zadkiel, changing his angelic robes into black/violet armor. "Then you leave me no choice but to destroy your guardians!"

Her eyes narrowed. "Fine." She spoke to Kurama and Hiei. "Try to beat some sense into him if you can."

Hiei smirked. "What about if I just knock the rest of it away." Fay shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"He's coming." Kurama interrupted, rosewhip in hand.

"Let's go!" Hiei dashed forward, the first to meet Zadkiel's strike with his own. Although his katana was strong, Hiei didn't expect it to hold up against Zadkiel, so the fact that it not only held but pulsed with its own power surprised him. Not that he showed it, he simply kept pushing back, energy crackling around the blades as both tried to make the other fall back.

Zadkiel retrieved his left hand from around the hilt of his sword, ready to speak a spell, but quickly found Kurama's rosewhip wrapped around it. "There is something I have noticed about the Mage and you; it seems you both need some sort of hand gesture to activate a spell."

Zadkiel's eyes narrowed as he tried to keep pressure on Hiei and battle to free his arm from Kurama's thorny grip. The boy was too smart for his own good, and for theirs. Making a decision he disengaged from Hiei, wrapped a hand around Kurama's rosewhip and tugged it hard forward. Kurama found himself hurled through the air towards Zadkiel, who with a flick of his right arm redirected the flight path so that he would collide with Hiei. Hiei jumped into the air, Kurama landed half knelt, then quickly stood. 'No!'

It was too late, Zadkiel finished his spell. Hiei and Kurama braced themselves for whatever came next so it wasn't very surprising when white feathers began to fill the space around them, floating like petals in the wind. The feathers thickened, blocking their view of Fay and Zadkiel.

The two took a back to back stance as the feathers danced a deadly dance. "Ready?" Kurama's tone was grim. "Always." Hiei replied confidently.

The feathers attacked them from all sides. 'There's too many! We might not...' Kurama felt Hiei push something into his hand, he looked down a second before the feathers struck. By then he knew what would happen.

An ice blue barrier sprung up to surround him at the same time the aquamarine barrier protected Hiei. The feathers struck, were repelled, yet continued to swarm like bees in a nest.

Through the whizzing of the striking feathers they could hear Fay's voice. "Fay! Don't do anything stupid!" Hiei called. A loud sound echoed around them as the attack spell ended.


	16. Chapter 16: Fractured Memories

Chapter 15: Fractured Memories

"Stop it!" Fay shouted as the feathers blocked Hiei and Kurama from view. "Zadkiel stop it now!" she ran to him, grabbing the arm he had extended and pulling it down. Zadkiel turned his attention down to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her up, his left hand tilting her chin up.

Fay bristled, bringing up her left hand with as much force as she could. The slap resounded in the following stillness, and when the arm holding her waist slackened, Fay twisted out of his grip and retreated. Zadkiel stood still, one hand on his cheek. "You really have forgotten." It sounded like a heavy, unwelcomed admission.

"Forgotten? I haven't forgotten a thing Zadkiel!" Fay snapped.

His eyes narrowed, anger swirling within violet orbs. "You have! That Guardian,' he pointed an accusing finger at Hiei and Kurama. "Them! They took your true memories of me away and replaced them! Our first meeting-"

"We met when I was on my way to school." Fay interceded. He shook his head in denial. "No! The first time we met was three months ago, before all this began. Don't you remember? You were walking out the grocery store when the bag ripped. I stopped and helped you pick up the items."

Fay's gaze became suspicious. That had never happened, at least not to her but…she'd heard that story before.

"We have never touched her memories." Kurama spoke softly, yet his voice was loud enough to be heard by all. Zadkiel turned an angry stare at them. "Don't lie! I know for a fact that that demon is psychic!" His gaze focused on Hiei. "Will you deny it?"

"Why should I when it's true, but I have no reason to alter her memory." He wasn't about to admit that he didn't have that particular skill or that even getting into her mind wasn't easy.

"You're a psychic Hiei? How come I didn't know that?" Fay asked curiously.

"There was no reason for you to know, and I doubt now is the time to go into that discussion."

"Oh, right." Fay recalled herself, turning back to Zadkiel as he spoke vehemently. "Lies! Why should I believe you when the proof stands before me?" The trio regarded Fay who, now that she was back to trying to make sense of all this mess, watched Zadkiel with eyes darkening in anger.

"We're here!" Botan and Yusuke burst through the barrier of the battle field, Botan landing her oar next to Hiei and Kurama.

"That the guy we're fighting?" Yusuke asked the two.

"We…we were." Kurama responded.

"What do you mean were?" The youth turned his attention to the stranger in armor. He didn't look all that tough; all he'd have to do is knock that sword from his grasp. As soon as he figured out why they were all just standing around.

"Fay looks angry, mind filling us in?" Botan spoke aside to the two.

"It's you!" Fay's accusation halted any explanation Kurama would have made.

Zadkiel stepped back, surprised by her hostile manner. "You're el idiota sin corazon! La vivora sin conciencia!"

Yusuke blinked, wondering if he were the only confused one. "Uhh…anyone knows what she just said?" he asked.

"I…I believe she just called him an idiot without a heart, a snake without a conscious." Even Kurama sounded somewhat perplexed.

Botan stepped closer, now really curious about what was going on. "So,' she inquired curiously. "Why would you call him that?"

Fay glared daggers at the confused Malaika. "Because I'm not the one who had her memory tampered with. It was _him_,' she accused, pointing. "I've never been grocery shopping on my own; it's always been with my sisters or mom. However the one who usually takes care of the shopping is my oldest sister, Marissa. She's the kindest, gentlest soul there is. About three months ago she came in all a gaga. Saying she'd met the love of her life and that _he_ was the kindest soul there was. They dated for a while and although now and then I overheard her talking about him with my sisters or mother, I never really caught his name, although I know it started with a Z. I remember that because I was thinking what kind of weird name starts with a Z and all I could come up with was Zoe. I snickered and dismissed it."

Fay took a deep breath and continued, her tone sill accusatory. "Then about two weeks ago she came in late one night, waking up the whole family with her happy 'I'm engaged' cheer. I remember that because I fell asleep in the living room since she insisted on pulling everyone from bed and reciting the whole damn evening!" Zadkiel couldn't help taking another step back at her tone. She was accusing him of her loss of sleep…not to mention everything else, but…none of that made sense. It was her who'd been in the restaurant with him…her who'd he'd proposed too.

"Go on." Botan encouraged.

"We would actually have met two days after that at a family dinner but I...err…had a previous engagement and wasn't at home." Fay decided it was best not mentioned that the engagement had been her and her friends going skating at a…certain location. "And then about four days before this whole thing started she ran into the house in tears, saying that he'd broken off the engagement!" Fay took a threatening step forward and after backing away once more, Zadkiel held his ground.

"Marissa said that he'd said he didn't love her, what's more he didn't know where she'd gotten the idea that they were engaged since he was in love with someone else!" Fay stopped her advance and turned to the others, accusing finger pointed at Zadkiel. "And he said it in an unfeeling, cold tone of voice! Now tell me he doesn't deserve to die in the most painful way possible!" It was a rhetorical question none of them bothered answering, not that she would have listened. "Well what are you waiting for Hiei, kill him…no never mind, I'll do it myself!"

Before Zadkiel knew what she intended, Fay had grabbed a hold of his clothes, dragged him down to her level and punched him hard enough that he ended up sprawled on the ground.

Had it been anyone else she was suddenly using as a punching back, Zadkiel would have admired the strength in her right hook. As it were he had to quickly grab her right arm and lift her up, keeping her away from his body as she struggled. "Put me down this instant and take it like a man!"

"Shouldn't you be doing something to stop this?" Botan asked the three boys. Yusuke laughed. "Why, it doesn't look like she needs our help."

"He brought this on himself, let him deal with it." Hiei smirked. Looking a little more uncertain, Kurama shrugged. "Well…he doesn't appear to be trying to harm her, on the contrary."

"Yeah he appears to be getting harmed." Yusuke laughed.

'Honestly boys!' Botan thought, turning back. "Fay, dear, maybe you should calm down." She approached the two cautiously.

"I'll calm down when he's in his grave! No one treats my sisters like that and gets away with it!" Fay managed to free her right hand, bringing it down on the left side of Zadkiel's face in a fist. He dropped her as his gaze went blurry and he could swear he saw stars dancing around his head.

He lost his balance and hit the ground, his head slamming into unforgiving concrete. It was as if a dam suddenly burst and the memories rushed in. He remembered that day clearly. He could remember her smile and the color of her eyes. 'Ah, so that's it.'

"Ouch." Fay massaged her right hand wincing at the pain.

"Well it's your fault you know." Botan chided. Fay nodded as Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei joined them. "Yeah, I know." She perked up. "But you know I feel a whole lot better now. And look; I brought him down without any of you having to fight." She grinned, immensely happy about what she'd accomplished.

"He was holding back, if he'd actually fought you without holding back you wouldn't have lasted." At Hiei's words Fay seemed to deflate. "Well…I brought him down, didn't I?" she couldn't help but pout. Zakdiel groaned, raising himself on his elbows.

"Uhh…but I'll let you take over from here, Hiei." Fay raced behind Hiei, smiling when he shot her a glare over his shoulder.

"I remember now." Those words brought their attention back to Zakdiel who was on his knees, then on his feet. He rubbed his jaw, looking none too pleased with Fay. "Your sister; she looks a little like you. However her eyes are a darker shade of aquamarine, her skin color is a little paler."

"Well excuse my unpleasant coloring." Fay brisstled, it didn't escape her notice that Hiei had said something alike not that long ago.

"Her smile's more radiant, her figure fuller, her manners much more refined." It was as if someone were hitting her over the head with a tin bucket, over and over again. Eye twitching Fay snapped, "I get it! She's an angel! You don't have to keep rubbing it in!" She shot Yusuke a glare when he started laughing though he quickly covered it up with a hand. The others were a little more…inconspicuous with their amusement.

"And you…" Zakdiel's tone was thoughtful as he rubbed his chin. "You're the little roller devil."

Yusuke gave up controlling his laughter and even Hiei looked amused. "Your sister told me about you. She says that you're always escaping to go skate somewhere."

Fay didn't bother speaking; he was right on that one. "And that when your sister Rhea's boyfriend cheated on her you stole his boxers and hung them on the flagpole."

"He had it coming! Wearing heart stamped boxers!" Fay defended herself. Not to mention breaking her sister's heart, she'd lost over a week of practice cause everyone had decided Fay was suddenly the best choice to console her sister.

"And spread pictures of him in drag all over the school." Yusuke's laughter rose. Fay didn't really think she'd gone overboard, even if the pictures had been somewhat...doctored.

"The great Kuwabara is here to save the day!" Kuwabara ran into the battle field. Ignored, he looked from one to another of his friends. "Hey…what's going on?" Yusuke pointed at Fay, trying to explain through his laughter. What Kuwabara got was a garbled version of dresses and boxers. "Okaaay…" 'I think Urameshi finally lost it.' Although that didn't explain why everyone else, except Fay, looked amused.

"You tried sneaking into an event at the arena...dressed as a hunched over old lady so you could get the senior discount. You might have gotten away with it if it weren't for you jumping up with a 'hurrah' not long after passing the entrance." Zadkiel continued.

"It was a dare!" Fay fumed. Even she'd admit it hadn't been her greatest moment. She'd tried not getting sucked into that one but her friends had called her a chicken, then dangled a new pair of roller blades in front of her! She was only…err…had been only human. How could she turn that down!

"And when everyone, including security, stopped and stared, you suddenly shouted out 'it's a miracle, I'm straight!' Right before your curly white wig fell off and you ran off with security on your tail." Kuwabara didn't know what was going on and he'd burst out laughing. "And what about that turf war?" Zadkiel went on with amused satisfaction in the set of his jaw and voice.

"It wasn't a turf war! It was an accident quickly taken care off!" The large cement bag was never supposed to have fallen on that guy!

Feeling a little frantic and knowing why he was dishing out all those stories, Fay tried to think of a way to shut him up. "My sister!" she shouted almost desperately. "You have to go back and make it right for her!"

It had the desired effect. Zadkiel's expression became grim, he shook his head. "I can't."

"Why not?" Fay demanded. "You love my sister don't you?"

Zadkiel nodded. "Yes, and it's exactly why I must stay away from her. Azrael would never let me leave the faction; I should know, I've already tried. If I returned to her he would merely do the same as he did before, alter my memories and…I would hurt Marissa once more."

"There must be something we can do to help." Botan said. Fay agreed with her. This was her sister's happiness they were talking about and if anyone deserved a happy ending, it was her. 'So I have to find a way to help…' Then it came to her. "There is something we can do."

All of them turned to look at her as she inhaled then loudly shouted. "Mary Anne! Get your butt over here!"

"And that's supposed to do what?" Yusuke asked.

"It's supposed to summon me."

"What the!" Yusuke jumped aside as Mary Anne appeared behind him. "Where did you come from?"

Mary Anne ignored Yusuke to glare at Fay.

"What's up with the food?" Kuwabara leaned around Yusuke to look at Mary Anne. In one hand she held a soda, in another a sub. She shot him a glare. "I was in the middle of lunch. What; do you think I wait around to be called by the likes of you?" She handed Yusuke her lunch and stomped over to Fay. "You are never to mention my butt again!" she bonked the girl over the head and huffed. 'Children these days, no respect whatsoever!' She ignored the fact that she was only a few years older than them.

"Ouch, did you have to hit so hard?" Fay whined rubbing her head.

"Yes I did, now what do you want? And it better be quick, I have a class in exactly fifteen minutes."

Her hands lowered to her sides and she gave Mary Anne a determined look. "You owe me."

Mary Anne shrugged. True, but what did that have to do with her being summoned like some lowly demon. "Sooo?" she drawled, her foot tapping in impatience.

Fay motioned to Zadkiel. "I want you to give him your protection so that he can go back home and marry my sister." Mary Anne finally paid attention to the stranger in the group, and her eyes widened. "What the..! I thought you were off on some teacher's conference!"

Zadkiel's armor had vanished, now he wore a black turtle neck shirt, black slacks, and men's black dress shoes. He nodded at Mary Anne. "Miss…Mary Anne. A pleasure to see you outside of class."

Yusuke cringed. 'I almost feel sorry for her.' It was bad enough having to deal with teachers in class, he couldn't imagine dealing with them outside of it…except for Genkai but she was different. He took a bite of the sub, wondering where Mary Anne had bought it. It was really good. "Hey, Urameshi. Give me a bite." Kuwabara said. Yusuke moved the sub out of Kuwabara's reach. "No way. Go buy one yourself." Kuwabara grabbed the soda instead and sipped. "Fine, then I'll just drink all of it." Yusuke smirked. "Yeah sure, keep the _diet _soda." Kuwabara paused. "Actually it doesn't taste like diet."

Their little conversation was mostly ignored by their friends who had their attention on Zadkiel, Mary Anne, and Fay.

"You know each other?" Fay asked. "I'm her English professor at the university." Fay's eyes widened. "So you know her real name?" Zadkiel nodded.

"Don't you dare!" Mary Anne hissed, bristling.

"Give and take, isn't that how it works?" Zadkiel's tone was smug and knowing. Bristling even more, Mary Anne shot Fay a glare, who like the others, looked on with interest. "Fine,' she snapped. "I give you, Zadkiel Angelus, my protection. Let it be known that anyone who tries to harm you or yours will have to deal with me. Are you happy?" Zadkiel nodded in satisfaction then turned to Fay. "Then I will see you later little sister, take care." Fay nodded. "Yeah, oh and could you let my family know I'm fine? And since it's very probable Marissa will make it hard for you tell her this; some flowers prefer to bloom late, even if late means winter." Zadkiel frowned. "She will know what this means?" Fay nodded.

"Then I will deliver it." He turned to the others. "I'm counting on all of you to protect her, keep doing your job well."

"Don't you worry." Botan piped up cheerfully. "We'll make sure nothing happens to her."

"We'll keep her as safe as we can make her." Kurama added. Beside him Hiei nodded.

"They'll have to get through me to get to her!" Kuwabara declared bravely.

"Not something that hard." Yusuke muttered loudly enough for Kuwabara to hear.

"You're asking for it Urameshi!" Kuwabara turned on his friend. Ignoring him, Yusuke turned a serious look to Zadkiel. "What they said, we won't let anything happen to her." He took another bite of the sub. Zadkiel smiled. "Thank you. It was an honor fighting by your side." He directed the last to Kurama and Hiei. "Likewise." Kurama responded.

Finally he returned his gaze to Mary Anne. "I will be back in class on Monday, make sure that report is complete." He disappeared in a flurry of feathers, missing Mary Anne's curse.

"Hey, this means you still owe me." Fay quickly backed away when the shorter girl turned her death stare on her. "Thanks a lot, now I'm going to have to deal with a mountain of class work and his report!"

"Errr…sorry?" Fay sweat dropped. Mary Anne sighted. "At least tell me you've found a piece of the crest."

Before Fay could deny it, Kuwabara spoke up. "Oh yeah, Yusuke don't you have something to give Fay?" He snickered. Yusuke shot him an annoyed glare and fished the pieces from his pocket. "Here, I'm sorry but it broke when I was fighting Eridanus."

Fay took the pieces from him, gaze puzzled, she stared down at the broken halves, then she spoke hesitantly, unsure. "There's…there's something wrong with them."

"Well yeah, like I told you they bro-"

"May I see them?" Kurama cut through Yusuke's words. Fay handed the pieces over to him. "You're right they don't seem right."

"Well duh, I already told you-" Again he was cut off as Mary Anne spoke. "Here, let me take a look."

"Fine! Ignore me!" Annoyed, Yusuke took another bite of the sub and half turned away."These are fake." He whirled around. "What do you mean fake!" he demanded of Mary Anne. She trapped the pieces in her fist and squeezed then tilted her hand and softened her hold. Dust tumbled from her closed hand to be swept up by the wind. When no more fell she opened her palm and unrolled the small parchment of paper that had been hidden within. After a brief perusal of the written words she frowned and handed it to Fay."Can you read the words?"

Fay took the piece of paper, studying the writing. "No, I can't. Whoever I may be, this language is sacred and only a select few can read it." Fay handed the miniature size scroll to Mary Anne. She gripped it, muttering. "Figures."

"Mind telling us what's going on?" Hiei didn't like being in the dark, and he was starting to feel as if he were. "It means that there's only one person alive now who can read that language, and she resides in my world." Mary Anne explained.

"So, go get her." Mary Anne shook her head at Yusuke's words. "No, it's not that simple. You don't simply go and 'get her' she's way too important for that." 'Looks like I'll have to go talk to her.'

"I'll see what I can do." She handed the scroll to Kurama. "Take care of that." +

Kurama nodded. "Very well." He took it from her as she turned to get her lunch from Yusuke.

Her eye twitched in anger. "You ate my lunch!"

"Well you handed it to me." Yusuke said defensively . "And I was hungry, what was I supposed to do, stare at it?"

"You insufferable little…" she pinned Kuwabara who was trying to back away. "You too! You owe me lunch!"

"I just took the soda! Yusuke's the one-"

"He's on my list too!" Mary Anne snapped, stomping away. "Wait, Mary Anne, what about the writing?" Mary Anne turned a fiery glare on her. "I'll see what I can do, now if you'll excuse me I have to go get a new lunch and scarf it down in five minutes before I go to my next three hour class!" Moving away she disappeared, with her gone, the battle field dissipated.

"Honestly, Yusuke. Is that anyway to behave?" Botan scolded, hands on hips.

"Hey, I just fought a dragon on my own, that takes energy you know." Yusuke defended himself. "I'm surprised she didn't just turn you to cinder on the spot." Fay thought out loud.

"Ah come on, no way she could do that."

Fay's gaze slid away. "Noo…I'm sure she couldn't..." she didn't sound all that sure.

"Bring it on! I can take her!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"Of course you could," Kurama passed by Yusuke, looking at him over his shoulder. "But the question is do you wish too? Considering of course…"

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Well since it looks like the search will have to wait till we hear from Mary Anne, we might as well do lunch." Botan caught sight of a clock in one of the store windows. "I can't believe it's already past two. Time sure does fly." She joined Fay, Hiei right behind her.

"Let's do barbeque." Kuwabara walked after them.

Yusuke stared after them for a moment. "Hey! Is anyone going to explain it to me!" he called running after them. When no one appeared to hear him he exclaimed. "Fine I'll buy her a stupid lunch later!"

"Good of you, Yusuke." Botan said cheerfully. "Are we all agreed on barbecue then?"

* * *

"And here for the entire world to see is the dragon defeated by a mere human: Eridanus." Eridanus opened one eye from where he lay on the cold floor of the storage facility. Standing over him was one of his faction members.

Black hair falling over olive eyes, wearing a dark brown sweater and black jeans, Lynx looked down at him with what many would confuse as kindness. He knew better.

"What do you want Lynx? You're cutting into my self-pity party." Lynx gave a long sigh of regret, or what appeared regret. "Sorry to be a party pooper but if someone comes down here and sees you, and it's not like you have much energy to control them, you'll end up in some cell." With a groan Eridanus lifted himself from the cold ground. "Happy?" he grouched.

"Quite." Lynx said drolly. "Wanna tag team and go after them?"

Eridanus shook his head, took a step forward, staggered. Lynx grabbed his arm, steadying him. "No, I'm done with this scene for the moment. Let someone else get beat up." He jerked his arm free of Lynx's steady grip. "Let's go."

Lynx raised a hand and called up a portal. "He didn't kill you…that was unexpected. After all you would have, if you've had the chance."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Eridanus said wryly. He limped through the portal, followed by Lynx.

* * *

"Oh dearest sister. Thouest was beaten quite resoundly. Yet death doth not appear before thee on this day. Thou is in luck that the Lady Fayre is quite fair." Corentin groaned and turned over to look up at the youngest member of their faction leaning over her. Wavy blond hair, true blue eyes, and a stripped uniform of dark aquamarine, a bow of a lighter green rested at the neck of her white blouse. Mjrn gave her that sweet innocent smile she was well known for. Unlike the rest of them, Mjrn was only nine, even if she did look like a five year old instead.

Her magic was very different than theirs and she attended a private high school. People called her a genius, they…well they knew she was Magus. Pure and simple. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Mjrn giggled. "Yes, tis why I wear my uniform, sister."

"Ah, right." She draped an arm over her eyes, listening as Mjrn moved away; apparently looking for something, then came back. "Thine pearls are beyond repair, and the sapphires…I am afraid they shall never shine with thine power once more."

Corentin removed her arm and sat up. "I know. I will have to replace them." She stood and stretched, wincing at all the cuts on her body. Her dress was ruined. Too bad, this had been her favorite. "Let's go little sister." Mjrn positioned her violin on her shoulder and played a gentle tune.

Corentin started forward as the portal appeared. "Go on sister, tis time I introduced myself to Lady Fayre." Corentin looked back. "Don't take them on, they beat me. You won't stand a chance."

Mjrn curtsied. "I merely wish for an acquaintance. I shall not do battle with Lady Fayre's warriors."

Corentin shrugged. "Suit yourself." She stepped through the portal as it closed behind her.

'Now.' Mjrn turned to look at where the battle had taken place. She'd placed up her own battle field when Corentin's had gone down so that she would be kept safe. She had a special ability, one that none but her sisters knew off. It was quite useful, as it had proven with Corentin. 'I shall choose the time, but mistake it not, we shall meet soon.' Mjrn giggled and vanished in a swirl of melodic notes.


	17. Chapter 17: Interlude

Chapter 16: Interlude

The rain began sometime after seven o'clock. It fell in sheets, and kept them inside the mall they'd gone too. The group had lingered over lunch, Yusuke and Kuwabara fighting over the food but even they'd tired of it after a while. They were all tired from the day's events, Fey could tell. It had made her feel guilty; after all if it hadn't been for her they wouldn't be involved in all this.

Hiei had shot her an 'are you an idiot' glare and remembering that he was psychic she'd started thinking about sunshine and dancing peeps. His look had changed to a disgusted one and he'd turned his attention back to the food Kuwabara had been attempting to sneak from his plate.

After lunch, Botan had insisted on doing some shopping. At that point Kuwabara and Yusuke had made themselves scarce, leaving Kurama and a reluctant Hiei to follow them from store to store.

Fayre wasn't particularly fond of shopping but Botan made it fun and she'd found herself enjoying it the way she hadn't with her two older sisters, who made her go along to carry their bags. They'd been heading for a shoe store when Fay had spotted the store. She'd frozen in place, a dreamy look on her face. Botan had stopped next to her and dubiously studied the store. "That's an awful lot of skates." Of course she'd been talking to Hiei and Kurama by then, Fay having rushed into the store, leaving dust in her wake.

By the time the three walked into the store Fay had been in conversation with a group of teens and two of the store's employees. It didn't escape Kurama's attention that they were all boys, and all of them impressed with her knowledge.

Botan had sighted. "Oh for goodness sakes, you know its moments like these that make me remember she isn't your typical girl." The teens stayed with her for over ten minutes, and when Hiei warned Kurama, the red head had turned a cool stare at the boys. They'd frozen in place for a moment, then made up excuses and rushed away. After that it had taken them, or more precisely Botan, twenty minutes to get her out of the store, practically dragging Fay away.

The two had looked through a few other stores, always trailed by Hiei and Kurama, until Yusuke and Kuwabara had shown up and complained about how long it was taking. Botan had been arguing with the two youths when they heard the unmistakable sound of thunder soon followed by rain.

"See this is what I meant!" Yusuke pointed at a store window.

"That's odd, it wasn't supposed to rain till late tonight." Botan frowned.

"They're not always right you know." Kuwabara had added his two cents.

The group had made its way to the nearest exit where others had already gathered under the exits awning to measure the severity of the rain. They could barely make out the cars in the parking lot through the storm and sudden wind.

"Oh great! Now we're stuck here!" Yusuke complained loudly. A few people glanced his way but quickly turned away.

"Stop acting like such weaklings; a little rain never hurt anyone." Hiei said.

"Well it's a lot of rain and I'll have you know that this kind of weather does hurt hu…err…people." Botan mended her last statement. "We don't want anyone getting sick."

"Hn!" Hiei turned away. "So what do you suggest we do? Wait here until the rain stops? It could go on all night." At his words a few of the people around them braved the rain and stepped out only to quickly jump back under the awning when the wind almost knocked umbrellas from their grip and others quickly started getting soaked.

Fay sighted, once more feeling guilty. "Sorry, if I hadn't-"

"Don't start that again!" Hiei snapped at her. "You took thirty five minutes tops, she-" he shot Botan a death glare. "Lasted much longer."

Fay was a little surprised but pleased at Hiei's defense of her, although she wished it hadn't been at Botan's expense.

Botan slumped. "I'm sorry." She said guiltily. "I just got caught up in all the shopping. I don't often get the chance you know."

"Don't mind Hiei." Kurama consoled her. "None of us knew the rain would come this early, so it is no one's fault."

Botan cheered up at his words. "Why thank you, Kurama."

Fay smiled up at Kurama who looked just a little surprised but quickly returned the smile. She blushed and turned to look at Yusuke when he spoke. "Whatever, none of that changes the fact that we're still stuck here."

Botan slumped again and silence descended. Fay pursed her lips thinking. There had to be a way to get home without getting completely soaked.

A figure in a black leather men's raincoat walked out to join the rest of the throng outside, stared a few moments at the rain and turned, going back in. The lapels of his coat had been pulled up but for a second, Fay could have sworn she'd seen him somewhere before. Curiosity getting the best of her, she turned to walk after him but stopped when a hand wrapped around her wrist.

"And exactly where do you think you're going?" Hiei asked.

Fay looked back and realized all her friends had suddenly turned to her. "You know, this is how little girls and boys get kidnapped." Botan chided. Fay couldn't help but blush. "Sorry, it's just that I think I know him." She pointed and the group followed with their gazes. The tall man had paused momentarily but soon took a left.

"And what if it's another trap?" Yusuke asked.

Fey hesitated but then shook her head. "No…I think I would be able to tell. Please, just trust me."

They glanced at each other and finally Hiei let her go. "You better pray this isn't another ambush." he threatened. Fay smiled brightly at him. "Ah come on Hiei, I didn't know he was going to be there." She cajoled. "Hn!" he stepped past her and she followed.

"Who was where?" Botan whispered to Kurama. "We'll explain later." He walked after the two leaving Botan, Yusuke, and Kuwabara to follow.

"Well at least we're doing something that's not standing around." Yusuke stretched his arms and linked them behind his head. He'd much rather walk into another fight than stand around complaining about the weather.

The man they were supposed to be following wasn't in sight when they turned the corner but nevertheless Fay kept on walking as if she knew where she was going. Hiei walked besides the cheerful girl, his gaze flickering to her when he realized she was humming a tune under her breath and her steps were almost…a march. His gaze turned unbelieving and when she caught it grinned and continued on in the same fashion.

Fay turned a corner on her left and continued until they came to an elevator. She pushed the down button. "I don't know about you guys but it does feel like an ambush." Botan worried. "What if we get on the elevator and as soon as the doors open werewolves or dragons, or even vampires jump us?"

"I don't think so." They turned to look at Kuwabara. "Usually I'd feel some kind of shiver, I don't this time. I think Fay's right, whoever this is; they don't want to fight us." Fay smiled up at him. "Thank you, Kuwabara."

"No problem." Kuwabara said self importantly.

"Well…if you say so." Botan still sounded unsure.

"Even if that fool's wrong-"

"Who are you calling a fool, shorty!?" Kuwabara demanded.

"We've already taken out three; I think one more will make no difference. If you're all tired then I'll handle it." The elevator opened and Hiei walked inside.

"Why not." Yusuke shrugged.

"No way shorty! I'm not wrong, and on the really small chance I am; I'm fighting the next bad guy!" Kuwabara declared stomping into the elevator. "Now boys," Botan followed. "I think you'd be better of fighting together." Fay stepped inside followed by Kurama and Yusuke.

"Don't worry Botan, they won't have to fight." She pushed the garage button and the group waited until the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Everyone except Fay had tensed, ready for trouble but when no one suddenly attacked, they relaxed and followed as she led the way out.

A dark red van stood parked nearest to them, and as the elevator doors closed behind them the driver's door opened and a tall man stepped out. Fay grinned and ran to him, or at least would have if Kurama and Hiei hadn't stopped her by stepping in her path. "And who are you supposed to be?" Hiei asked without preamble.

The man wore glasses over dark brown eyes, his long hair was tied back in a ponytail and he wore a black suit. He bowed politely. "My name is Väinämöinen, however I have heard that my name is too long, so Vainam will do. I am part of the Wizard Faction and have guarded The Right for centuries."

"See, I told you there was nothing to worry about." Fay edged past Hiei and ran to Vainam who smiled in welcome and wrapped her in a hug. "It is good to see you are well, Lady Fayre." Fay chuckled and stepped back. "I've told you before; I prefer Fay." The wizard nodded. "Yes, but I am an old man and set in my ways." She laughed and turned to look at her friends who stood, looking a little uncertain of what to do, at least most of them did, Hiei simply looked bored.

"You're not taking her away are you?" Botan asked in dismay. Vainam shook his head. "No. The others and I have come to the conclusion that she is safest with you." His bow this time was deeper. "Thank you for looking after her so well."

"It's no big deal." Yusuke said feeling a little uncomfortable. "I mean she's our friend now, of course we'd keep her safe." Vainam raised an eyebrow in question as his gaze flickered to Fay. "Oh right!" Fay realized she hadn't introduced them. "Err...the one who spoke first is Hiei." She would have said shortest but had thought better of it. "The tallest is Kuwabara, the one next to him is Yusuke, the girl is Botan,' the blue hair girl bowed. "And that's Kurama." He bowed as well.

Vainam's gaze flickered to Fay as she presented Kurama. Although he could tell from her tone of voice that she'd come to care for all of them, the last one…there was a note in her voice that warned him that her attachment to this male was…just a little different, even if she hadn't realized it yet.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you, and I believe you need a ride home." He lifted his right hand which held the van's keys. He pushed a button and the back door slid open.

"Oh, thank you, we didn't know what we were going to do with all that rain outside." Botan said cheerfully.

"Yeah, thanks." Yusuke said following Botan.

"So...did you know we were going to need a ride?" Kuwabara asked.

"Fool, no one would come to a different world only to offer a ride." Hiei scoffed.

"You're starting to get on my nerves shrimp!" Kuwabara glowered down at Hiei.

"And you wanna make something out of it?" Hiei taunted.

"Enough you two," Fay intervened, stepping in between the two. "If you want to fight you can do it when we get home."

With a last glare Hiei climbed into the van, taking the backseat.

Vainam watched this with a mildly interested expression on his face, wondering how they managed to work together without killing each other, but then oddly enough they did seem to be friends.

Once they had all seated themselves, Vainam climbed back in and started the engine. "As to your question, Kuwabara," Vainam backed out and directed the van toward the exit. "No, I did not. I ran into Mary Anne before she contacted Koenma and she told me what had happened, so I volunteered to deliver her message. Of course, I also wanted to check on Fay." Fay did look a little surprised about that, although it did occur to her that the Wizards would keep tabs on her.

"As you can see, she's fine, so what is it that that Guardian wanted you to pass on?" Hiei asked.

"If you please." Kurama added a little more politely.

'Right to the point.' Vainam mused. The light turned and he placed his foot on the gas. "What Mary Anne wanted me to pass on is this: I've made an appointment for you with the Oracle; she'll meet you at the Remei Gardens's event hall tomorrow at two, don't be late."

"Wow, you nailed her voice perfectly." Kuwabara said. Vainam chuckled. "When you live as long as I do, you pick up a few tricks." He grinned into the rear view mirror as he made a turn.

It was Kurama who took the reins of the conversation after that. She could tell Vainam was surprised that someone so young could understand what most of them didn't really understand. Fay understood that Vainam was talking about an event…something that happened in the early sixteenth century and although it tugged at something in her long forgotten memory, for the most part she had no idea what they were talking about.

She became completely lost when they turned to botany although she wasn't the only one. Yusuke looked as if he'd been suddenly tossed into a classroom without his permission and was hoping like hell they wouldn't call on him. Hiei didn't look as if he were listening at all, though Fay would bet he was. Botan…well she looked perplexed and Kuwabara looked blank. Fay didn't blame them, she was right there with them. At least they weren't expected to participate in the conversation.

Fay turned to look out the window. The rain had let off a little, it still poured but at least not in bucketfuls. She half listened to the conversation, her thoughts on what had happened earlier in the day. She was worried that the odd piece of crest meant something bad, but worse she couldn't help but worry about who the factions would send after her next. There were seven factions, and she didn't know how many in those factions.

"I'm afraid I can't be of much help in that certain area,' Fay heard Vainam say in response to something Kurama had asked. "I was never allowed that knowledge or their gardens. I'm surprised you even know that that Order existed. Unlike the Templers, they did manage to hide their existence quite well, a little too well. Now all they knew has been mostly lost, no, for that knowledge you'll have to turn to Fay."

"What!?" Fay's attention jerked back to the conversation, her wide eyes turning to Vainam in the driver's seat. What was he doing? She didn't know anything about botany! She…she… Panic was setting in, especially when Fay realized all eyes were on her. "The Order of Eilisione; what did they use the lunar lily for?" Vainam inquired, trying to hide his amusement.

How was she supposed to know? She caught Kurama's interested gaze and blushed turning away, trying to figure out what to say.

'Eilisione…that sounds…familiar.' She finally realized; a memory filled her, or more like a voice reciting ingredients. "Dry the petals; add red clover for healing, nightshade for death, and the Eilisione spell for magic." The voice kept on speaking but it's as if it had moved away and Fay couldn't make out the words.

It wasn't until Vainam spoke once more that Fay realized she'd spoken what she'd heard out loud. "Then it's a shame that spell was lost." Uncertain, Fay nodded.

The van came to a stop in front of their apartment building and Fay jumped out quickly. "Thanks for the ride, please say hello to the others." Fay waved but before she could move away, Vainam called her name. She turned back as the others climbed out and hurried the few feet to the door leading into the building.

Vainam's gaze was now serious and a little troubled. "You're not as indestructible as you believe; even cats have a limit to their lives." Fay nodded. "I understand I'll be more careful." He nodded solemnly. "Then my job here is done, take care Fayre." She nodded and joined the others who had waited for her by the building entrance.

"What was that about?" Botan asked. "Oh…he just told me to be careful." Fay smiled in reassurance and climbed up the stairs following Yusuke and Kuwabara, and didn't catch the look Hiei and Kurama exchanged.

Yusuke opened the door and taking of his wet jacket hung it on the coat hanger near the door. He fell onto the nearest couch and stretched while the others discarded their jackets and did the same. "That was a long day." Botan sighted as she sat.

Before Fay could start feeling guilty about everything that had happened that day, Hiei shot her another warning glance and Fay remembered he could read her mind. 'Well that sucks. Wish I could read his.' It'd make her feel at less of a disadvantage.

"Alright I've got questions." Yusuke spoke as soon as she'd seated herself. "Uhh…yeah sure, what do you want to know?" Why did she feel like she'd done this before….oh, yeah she had.

"How the hell are we supposed to defeat them when they keep putting up those stupid barriers!?" he snapped.

"Yusuke, calm yourself." Kurama spoke calmly.

"Don't tell me to calm myself! I almost got killed because of one of those! If she hadn't,' he pointed at Fay. "Shown up-"

"Now you've lost your mind, Yusuke. When exactly did she have the time to join you in the museum when she's been with us all day?" Hiei scoffed.

"When she fainted," Yusuke continued with a glare at the fire demon. "I thought you guys already knew that."

"Yes, she fainted. However the cause was the spell Corentin used. It did not enter our minds that her soul would have gone so far." Kurama spoke softly.

While the three had been speaking, Fay had slumped in the sofa, slowly easing herself down…hoping she could sneak away without being seen. It was not meant to be. They turned to her as one. "Don't tell me you died again?" Yusuke demanded.

Fay pushed herself against the back of the sofa then, deciding it wouldn't be a bad thing if it swallowed her but when it didn't, not that she'd held out much hope on that, shook her head. "No, I didn't. I just…err…she…my shoe…and then…" she trailed off as Hiei spoke. "Yes, you walked right into her trap; did you also walk up to her and hand her your shoe?"

Fay decided her face was red enough as it was without sneaking a look at Kurama, and she'd almost forgotten to be nervous around him. Taking a deep breath she straightened and glared right back at Hiei. "For your information she made me mad, so I threw it at her."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Kuwabara muttered. Not that anyone paid him any attention.

"Wait…what? What does your shoe have to do with you dying?" Yusuke sounded bewildered. He finally looked down at her shoes and noticed that she was wearing a different pair than those she'd had on in the morning…or so he believed. He wasn't a girl! He didn't notice shoes! Yusuke turned back to Fay, expecting her to explain.

She did, leaving out a lot of information, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kurama and Hiei but they let it go. As it was Hiei took the information as she thought it. Although it was difficult to get very deep into her mind, what she thought was at the surface and Hiei could easily pick it up.

"As for the barriers," Fay stood, walking over to her sweater, she searched the pockets for her bracelet. When she didn't find it there she frowned and searched her skirt, only to realize it didn't have any pockets. She was about to panic when Hiei spoke up from his place near the window. "Looking for this?" he mocked, lifting the hand that held the item.

Fay whirled around, her eyes on the charm. "Yes! Why didn't you say you had it? I almost panicked." She marched over to him and took it back with a 'Hn!' reminiscent of his own.

She unclipped a fish, wincing when two of the beads fell to the carpeted floor. She crouched and picked them up, looking them over for breaks but found none. 'Then…why did they fall off?' Maybe this was a sign. She stood up and handed Yusuke the dark blue fish.

"What's this for?" He asked looking at the fish doubtfully. "It's my good luck charm. My grandmother made it for me as a birth gift. From what I saw today it's got magical properties of its own and should protect you and help you get through the barriers. Then you can stop them from using their big spells…mostly." She added hesitantly.

'At least it doesn't look too girly.' Though he guessed that if it got lost he'd never hear the end of it. While he'd been inspecting the fish, she'd walked past him to Botan and Kuwabara. "I think I'm supposed to give these to you two." Botan took it carefully.

The bead sparkled with its light blue color up at her, the swirls scribed into it glowing. "Thank you." She turned to Fay. "I'll take really good care of it."

"I know you will." Fay had already handed the last bead, a gray blue one, to Kuwabara. "And that's that." She smiled in satisfaction. "Any more questions?"

"Too many for you to answer." Hiei stood and started down the hall.

"Hey I can do my best to answer them!" Fay said defensively. He stopped and glanced back. "I suggest you get some sleep. Tomorrow we have to meet that Oracle from your world, not to mention the likelihood of dealing with more of those faction fools." He turned away, walking to his room and slamming the door behind him.

"Hiei's right." Kurama stood. "It's already past eight. Rest will do all of us some good." Fay sidled out of the way as he walked by. "Goodnight, Fay, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan."

"Yeah…night." Fay said, though the others' words drowned her whispered ones.

Yusuke sat back on the couch, his feet on the black coffee table in the middle. "No way am I going to sleep at eight thirty. I'm not some little kid." He picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

"Don't say we didn't warn you, Yusuke." Botan said as she stood. "Come on Fay; let's leave the boys to their shows." Fay nodded and followed after her. "Night, Yusuke, Kuwabara."

Yusuke waved his arm lazily in response.

"Night!" Kuwabara called before turning back to the television.

_**Next Chapter Preview**_

...the music unheard but by two.

"Can't you hear the music?"

"Aye, it shalt not be very long."

"The music's gone."

* * *

AN: That's it for now. Reviews are much appreciated. Till next time.


	18. Chapter 18: Midnight Concerto

Chapter 17: Midnight Concerto

AN: Yay for the reviews! And spring break ^^

* * *

The door closed behind Botan as the two walked into Fay's room. "Well?" Botan asked stepping closer to Fay, her tone inquisitive. Fay leaned back. "Well…err…what?" she asked.

Botan's expression could be called…cattish as she stepped closer, her eyes gleaming. "You don't expect me to believe that you told Yusuke everything, right?"

Once more, Fay took a step back, though it appeared to be of little use. "Err…what?" was all she could manage.

"Let's start at the reason you threw the shoe at Corentin; you said she'd made you mad but what I want know,' she leaned in closer. "Is why exactly she made you mad?"

Fay found herself backed into a wall, literately and figuratively as Botan loomed over her. She sighted. 'I guess I might as well.' After all she could trust Botan to keep secrets, even if she wasn't too sure what the secret was supposed to be. "I…I'm not exactly sure myself." Botan finally stepped back, her tone puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Fay sat herself on the bed, legs crossed, and thought back. "Well I remember that…that…' she started fiddling with her fingers. "She said Kurama was…err…beautiful…" Botan joined her on the bed and leaned in closer to hear the half whispered words.

"And she was looking at him like…I don't know, like he was some kind of dessert or something. Something she wanted to eat, perverted old hag,' she whispered the last quietly before continuing on. "And I just got really mad and threw my shoe at her." She ended in a huff. "Oh, yeah and I really don't know why I did it but I placed myself between her and Kurama." Fay scratched the back of her head, a frown twisting her lips. "I guess…I just didn't want her creeping him out…or something to that effect." Fay liked to think she was a person who always made sense, but her explanation puzzled even her.

"I see." Botan's tone made Fay feel just a little apprehensive, her expression; that of a cat who had eaten the cream, intensified the feeling. What exactly did the blue hair girl know that she didn't? The answer came soon enough. "So what you're saying is…' Botan's smile widened as she paused for dramatic effect. "That you like Kurama."

"What…well of course I like Kurama, I like all of you." Fay rolled her eyes. 'That's it? That's her big secret?'

Botan shook her head and explained. "No, I don't mean it that way, I mean you like, like Kurama."

A shudder went through Fay as she turned a wary gaze on Botan. It was this. It was the same kind of talk that her only two female friends seemed to be fluent in. "Err…can you repeat yourself…in my language?"

Botan's hands went to her hips. "Are you honestly saying that you don't know what I'm talking about?" Fay nodded cautiously.

"You must have friends back home, you know; girls you get together with and talk about boys and stuff."Botan demanded.

Fay shook her head, hesitated and nodded. "Well, the friends I hang out with back home are mostly guys, since most girls I know don't like skating as much as I do, and while I do have two girl friends,' the third one she knew, Fay couldn't really count as a friend, "I usually don't hang out with them that much. I mean sometimes I do eat lunch with them at school since they like to drag me to sit with them and the rest of their friends. That's not all that bad but then they…start talking, like you just did and it ends up sounding like ducks quaking to me."

It had been like that for a while, she'd sit on the bench listening to them and well…all she heard was quack, quack. Now and then a word got through to her but she'd never been interested in whatever they had been talking about.

Botan blinked. "Ducks…quacking?"

Fay nodded. "Yeah, see this one time a few years ago, my family and I went to this park that had a small lake and I remember seeing a bunch of ducks swimming in the lake, all quacking. I pointed them out to my grandmother and she laughed. When I asked her why, she said that they were gossiping. So later on I thought; oh, that must be what my sisters do when they all get together and talk in one of their rooms. I asked them about it and all they said was that yeah, and I was the little black sheep." Actually, she hadn't gotten that part until she'd looked it up, and then wished they'd found something better to compare her too, like a wolf.

Botan smiled uncertainly, a sweat drop on her forehead. A black sheep…and ducks; the picture suddenly sprang to life in her mind; a bunch of white ducks sitting around a lunch table, a small black sheep sitting at the end. 'Probably looking for a way out.' She covered her mouth and giggled while Fay looked on, puzzled.

"Well it means you need an education in this,' Botan's giggles suddenly stopped, her tone turning serious, she nodded to herself. "And I'm just the right person to do it."

However, much like the cat after the proverbial mouse, she wouldn't give up on the chase. She wanted an answer. Botan pointed at Fay. "So I guess I'll be straight forward about this. You have a crush on Kurama." Then it occurred to her. 'Although, from her actions…maybe it's a little more than that.' Her thoughts were interrupted as Fay responded.

"No." She stated firmly. Botan's hands went to her hips. "I'm usually right about this stuff,' at least she liked to think so, though come to think of it she didn't have all that much experience….She shook it off and continued. "And exactly what is it about liking Kurama that's so distasteful?"

Fay glanced away. "Umm…I'd really rather not start acting like Nina and Madeline when they have a crush,' she looked pensive for a moment. "Come to think of it; I don't have any of the symptoms they usually have."

Botan tilted her head to the side. 'Symptoms? It's a crush not a virus.' She would assume that Nina and Madeline were her two friends. "So exactly how do they act?"

"First off, they get all starry eyed…' Fay paused hesitating, not noticing Botan's smug smile. "Then that's one down; I saw the look you gave him the first night we met you."

Fay continued quickly. "That's just one thing; I don't stalk him wherever he goes, I don't sigh whenever he's around or even whenever he isn't. I don't daydream over him and I definitely don't swoon or blush…'

"I've seen you blush!" Botan pounced on that tidbit. "Although the rest of it…' she thought for a moment. "Well I guess some girls react differently-"

"But that's just not it!" Fay cried out as if unable to help herself.

Botan was taken aback by Fay's heated words. The girl looked away, her expression flushed. "What I feel around him, or even when I think of him is different from what my friends described." She placed a hand to her chest. "My heart…it starts beating so quickly, as if I've been running nonstop for a while. I feel uncertain, like I want to get as far away from him as possible but at the same time stay as close to him as I can. When he smiles my chest,' her hand clutched at the front of her blouse. "It hurts but…" she shook her head. "I can't explain it, maybe it just means I hate him but…but I don't know why I would when he's so kind. And it just doesn't mesh with all the other feelings I get when I'm near him."

'Oh, dear.' Botan thought. "You're right; you don't have a crush on him." Startled, Fay looked at Botan.

"I think you might be falling in love with him."

Fay's eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently. "That's not possible; I just met him yester…two days ago but it feels to me like yesterday. A person can't fall in love that quickly."

'Of course they can.' Botan thought, she was beginning to believe that Fay's feelings had begun almost from the start. 'Maybe even from the moment she bumped into him on the street.' It was like some kind of love story, except this was a lot more complicated.

Hesitantly, Botan asked Fay. "Have you ever had a crush?" The younger girl shook her head. "Gone a date?" Another head shake. "So I guess you've never fallen in love." Fay shook her head slowly; comprehension dawning in her eyes. She groaned and hid her face in her knees. "I wouldn't know, would I?"

It was just her rotten luck that she'd fall for someone not of her world, and so damn quickly. 'Idiot! Idiot!' She didn't need this! She was on a quest to regain her freedom, per say, she couldn't deal with this! Not when she had absolutely no idea what to do with these feelings! How was she supposed to act around him now? For that matter how was she even going to face him?

"Come on now,' Botan tried to reassure her. "It's nothing to be so upset over. I think we should talk this over with Kura-"

"No!" Fay interrupted, her tone almost panicked. "I…I can't let him know this! I…I just can't!"

The very idea made her feel panicked. He was nice but…but this! She knew he would be kind but he hadn't shown any interest in her as anything but a friend, she couldn't dump her feelings on him! She had no right. Besides, the thought of being rejected by him made her want to cry. She'd done way too much crying for one day.

Botan watched Fay's thoughts flitter through her face. Even if they didn't say anything; Fay was way too easy to read. Botan had already been able to tell Fay had had trouble around Kurama, though she seemed to have been making some progress. 'Now I think I just complicated things.' Botan blamed it on her curiosity. "Don't worry." She tried to cheer her friend up. "We'll find a way to work this out."

Fay gave her a weary look. "It's okay; I'll just do what my friend Nina does."

"And what's that?" Botan inquired.

"Well, whenever she's trying to get over a guy she keeps her distance from him, since I can't do that with Kurama, I'll just start with her second step. I'll be polite yet aloof. I always hear her mutter that to herself whenever she's stuck somewhere where the guy is. A week later, she's totally over being in love and back to her old self."

Botan sweat dropped. "Uhh…I don't think it's going to be all that fool proof with you."

Fay however, was no longer paying attention, her full concentration was on repeating those words, apparently warming up to them. Then she turned to Botan and smiled. "Just watch, by next week I'll be over this, besides,' her tone turned somber, her aquamarine eyes dulling. "I'm not meant to fall in love." She never had before, and Fay had felt so certain that she just wasn't the type of girl who would, that's why she'd made the rules what they were; because Fay had believed, and still did, that there was no possibility that she could actually fall in love with someone in the factions.

'Exactly what does she mean by that?' Botan thought bewildered. 'Well it doesn't matter; I'm going to come up with the perfect plan to make all of this work out.' Fay could thank her later.

Fay breathed out a long sigh and yawned. "I think I am tired. Some sleep might help clear this whole thing up."

Botan jumped to her feet. "Of course, you just sleep and not worry about a thing. I'll see you at breakfast." Fay nodded and watched as the door closed behind Botan.

Arms wrapped around her knees, head hidden behind them, Fay stayed still for a while after Botan left. 'Stupid, stupid girl. Hope this works or we're in so much trouble.' It was a good thing she could trust Botan with this. She really couldn't stomach the thought of Kurama rejecting her.

Well she'd follow Nina's plan starting tomorrow. She would be polite yet aloof, and stay as far from Kurama as possible. If they had to separate into teams she would go with Yusuke and Kuwabara, if that was the team up again, otherwise she'd stick close to Hiei.

It was odd but with him she felt…well comfortable might be the word. Part of her knew that maybe she should be a little more cautious of him but it was a very small part. He might appear somewhat mean and a little standoffish at the beginning but she'd soon realized that was just…well, the way he acted. Inside, he was just a big…small cuddly teddy bear! Maybe when she got home she'd describe him to her aunt Marietta and ask her to make a pillow size plushy of him so she could snuggle-

~Don't you dare!~ The glowering warning snapped into her thoughts and she laughed.

~Eavesdropping, Hiei? ~ She teased.

~Hn! someone has to keep an eye on you~ came the disgruntled reply.

~Ah, so you're making sure I'm safe, how sweet~ Fay could almost picture the scowl she heard in his voice.

~I have never failed a mission, I will not start now simply because you can't stay out of trouble~

~Hey!~ Fay pretended to be affronted ~It's not my fault; trouble's the one that follows me, not me it~

~Is there a difference?~

Fay chuckled. Maybe she would ask her aunt-

~I'm warning you…~

~Ah, come on Hiei, I won't share it with anyone else~ she cajoled.

~No! Stop talking nonsense and get some sleep, with your luck, you'll need it~

~Fine, fine. Night, Hiei~

With a final 'hn' he cut the connection. Now that Fay knew it was Hiei, she could sense his presence in her mind…at times. She supposed she'd been lucky this time and managed to lock her other thoughts deep down before he could take a look at them.

Fay rubbed her eyes and yawned once more. She was tired. Turning she crawled to the pillows, not even bothering to get up and change, but soon Fay found that as tired as she was, she could not sleep.

Too many thought whirled in her mind, keeping her awake. She was about to drag herself from bed when the soothing sound of a violin being played reached her. Fay found herself relaxing, her eyes slowly drooping over aquamarine orbs. 'Thank you.' As she fell into slumber, she could have sworn she heard a child's giggle.

The music continued long after Yusuke and Kuwabara headed for bed, Kuwabara frowning and looking back to make sure they'd turned off the television before heading into his room.

Silence descended as the night advanced, the music unheard but by two. It soon lulled Kuwabara into sleep, although not the deep one Fay found herself in, at least until the rhythm of the strings shifted.

* * *

Yawning, Fay woke from her slumber, and as one enthralled, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She stood in place, swaying, then turned and walked to the window. The panes opened as she pushed them out and looked out. There was no handy tree to climb down from but as she looked for a way, her attention caught on the street light. It was a few feet out of reach but she didn't seem to mind.

The girl climbed onto the window sill and jumped, wrapping her arms around the pole and sliding down until her feet touched the ground. The ground was cold and wet after the rain and although she wore socks, they were of little protection to her feet. Still, Fay didn't mind, the music; she needed to get to the musician. Everything could wait till after she met the musician.

The cold nipped at her legs, her arms, whistled past her hair but none of it mattered. At any other time, Fay would have found it odd that no one was out in the streets; there was no traffic, no lights inside homes, restaurants or offices. Only the golden glow of the streetlights lighted her path. So she continued on because after all, she had to meet the musician.

* * *

Kuwabara woke with a start. 'I know we turned off the TV and I can't remember the last time someone used a radio.' He got up and opened his door, hoping it would give him an exact direction to the music. His instinct said it had to do with Fay, so he walked over to her door and knocked.

"Hey, Fay? Did you leave a radio on or something?"

A door opened behind him and Kurama peeked out. "Is something wrong, Kuwabara?" he asked.

'He's still up?' Kuwabara thought in surprise when the red head joined him in the hall, fully clothed. "Oh, it's nothing. I just think Fay left on the radio." Another door opened and Hiei joined them.

"Fool, the girl has no radio. I would know." His gaze narrowed. "And why are you mumbling about a radio?"

Kuwabara cleaned his ear. "Can't you hear the music? I think it's a violin playing."

"Isn't a little too late to be awake?" Yusuke grumbled as he opened the door. Like Kuwabara, he wore pajamas, though his were blue instead of gray with kittens on it.

Yusuke smirked at the sight. "Nice pajamas, Kuwabara, where'd you get them; Kittens R US?"

"Not now, Yusuke." Kurama pushed past Kuwabara and knocked on the door once more. "Fay? Are you in there?" There was no answer.

"Damnit!" Yusuke pushed Kuwabara aside and knocked louder on the door. "You either answer this door or were coming in! And the door better not be-"

"It's not locked." Kurama twisted the knob and opened it. The room was empty, the bed looked a little rumpled, as if someone had laid in it, but was otherwise untouched. The window was open, letting the cold wind in and fluttering the curtains in its wake.

"Can't we get a freakin break?!" Yusuke ran to the window and looked out.

"How did she get down?" Kuwabara wondered as he joined Yusuke.

"She must've jumped." They turned to look at Kurama whose gaze was on the street lamp.

"But why would she even try it?" Kuwabara asked frowning in thought.

At the door, Botan's eyes widened. 'It couldn't have been because…Oh, Botan, you've really done it this time.' Hiei shot her a questioning look but Botan didn't notice it. She was about to speak when Kuwabara beat her to it. "No way would she just leave on her own; she trusts us remember. It has to have something to do with that music I'm hearing."

His friends turned to him. "We can't hear any music, Kuwabara." Yusuke said.

Kuwabara pointed at himself with his thump. "Remember I'm more sensitive to this stuff, maybe that's why."

"Then you will lead the way." Kurama said as Yusuke raced to his room. "I suggest you change quickly."

"Right." Kuwabara ran back to his room, changed and rejoined his friends at the front door. As soon as he did, the group raced down the stairs, letting Kuwabara take the lead. He stopped for a second, orienting himself to the direction of the music then hurried.

"Hey, has anyone noticed that the streets are a little too quiet? Even for this time of night?" Yusuke spoke into the silence.

"Someone must've put up a battle field at some point." Kurama answered uncertainly. "But how…?" Usually they could sense when it went up, not this time.

"We'll just have to rip it out of the throat of whoever's on the other end." Hiei said.

They lapsed into silence then, saving their energy for whatever lay waiting at the source of the music.

* * *

Fay came to full consciousness as the music ended. "I welcome thee, Lady Fayre." Fay turned her attention to the small girl who curtsied a few feet before her. Her hazy memory began to clear and she remembered the music. "You hypnotized me."

The child nodded. "Aye, but I have no wish to battle for thee. I simply wish for thee to hear my music. T'was the only way I believed I could get close to thee without thine warriors becoming wary of me."

Fay was wary of her already, and why was she speaking like she had just stepped out of a Shakespearean play? Whoever this kid was, she was not average; but she wasn't sure exactly what she was either. So she asked. "And you are?"

"Pardon my lack of manners. I am Mjrn, youngest in the Magus faction."

'Of course you are.' Fay thought wryly. Though unlike Corentin, this kid didn't really give her a bad feeling, but all the same…

"Look, I appreciate your efforts but if I don't get back home and my friends find me gone, they'll worry."

"Oh, I beseech thou. It shalt be but a mere moment." The girl looked up at her with large true blue eyes and after a few moments of trying to resist her, Fay gave in. "Okay, I'll listen but just for a little bit."

Mjrn smiled in thanks. "Aye, it shalt not be very long."

Fay looked down at the grass expecting it to be wet, instead found it was her socks that were soaked. "I dost apologize for thine footwear. I did not mean for it to be so."

Fay shrugged and sat down, taking off the socks. "It's not a big deal." She put them aside and directed her attention to Mjrn. "Okay, I'm all ears."

Mjrn giggled and lifted the violin back into place. "This is the final movement from the Violin Partita in D minor by Bach." She placed bow to string and began.

Fay had heard of the composer, though she hadn't actually listened to too much of his work…or any classical music for that matter but Mjrn played it beautifully. The notes seemed to drift from the violin, dancing like fairy lights, wrapping around her and relaxing her. As she listened, everything went away. All her worries and problems vanished with the music, and the sound became her world. Fay closed her eyes, never knowing when her head hit the ground.

* * *

Kuwabara kept following the music, knowing they were going the right way when it began to get louder, until it suddenly stopped and he came to a halt.

"What's wrong?" Kurama asked.

"The music's gone." Kuwabara turned one way then another. "It just stopped."

"Well then concentrate harder." Yusuke insisted.

"I'm trying, Urameshi, but the music's just gone. Even when the player changed the tone of the music I could still hear it. It's not like that this time."

"Then how are we going to find her before they catch her?" Botan worried.

"That happened the moment the music took her." Hiei scowled. "And I can't reach her through telepathy. It's as if she's not there at all."

"Hold it!" Kuwabara hushed his friends as he listened. It was starting again, coming from the left. "I can hear it again, let's go." They took off, following Kuwabara past darkened buildings until they soon realized their heading. "It's coming from the gardens, near the north lake."

It was all Hiei needed to hear. He sped up, leaving the group behind while Botan jumped onto her oar. "Yusuke!" The spirit detective jumped up behind her. "We'll go ahead, Kuwabara keep leading Kurama."

The tall boy nodded. "No problem." He glanced back to make sure his friend was keeping up and was surprised when he was quickly overtaken.

'I stayed awake to keep this from happening,' Kurama thought grimly. 'Yet in the end I could do nothing to prevent it.' If she came to any harm, it would be his fault.

* * *

Hiei would have thrown his sword if he hadn't caught sight of the small figure. 'A child? Now they send a child to do their dirty work?' He landed beside Fay's felled form, glancing at her to make sure she was fine, before turning his attention to the child. "I suggest you cease that noise before I do it for you."

Mjrn's large eyes were set on him but she didn't heed his warning and kept on playing. Hiei placed his right hand on the hilt of his katana. He would aim for the instrument and hope the girl did nothing foolish.

"Don't Hiei, she's just a child!" Botan called out as they arrived, Yusuke jumping of the oar before Botan could land.

"Great, now they're sending elementary school kids to fight us." Yusuke wondered if she'd give up if they offered to buy her candy or something.

"Hey, I'm here!" Kuwabara's voice sounded over the music though it was Kurama who first reached them. He halted when he saw Mjrn. "This…is the musician?"

With an inner sigh Mjrn's playing came to an end. "The term, tis violinist." The instrument disappeared from her hands and she curtsied. "I am Mjrn, a Magus."

"Let me guess, you're here to try and take Fay." Yusuke said dryly.

Mjrn titled her head and looked up at him. "I…merely wisheth for her to listen to my music."

"So how come she's on the ground, not listening? Looks to me like she didn't like it all that much." Yusuke gestured to where Fay lay.

Mjrn smiled sweetly. "Thou art wrong, hath she not enjoyed it; The Lady Fayre would still roam the waking world."

"How come you're talking like that?" Kuwabara burst out. "If you think you're going to trick us with those words-"

"She is not." Kurama interrupted him. "She is speaking an older version of her language. What I want to know is how it is that you are speaking your own language, and yet we can still understand you?"

Mjrn smiled guilelessly. "Tis not something I wisheth to divulge."

"I see, then please wake her." Kurama knelt besides Fay, gathering her into his arms and checking her for injuries. She was asleep but otherwise, he was relieved to note, unharmed.

Mjrn shook her head. "Tis my mother who can wake the Lady."

"I thought you said you didn't want to fight us!" Yusuke snapped. The girl nodded. "Aye, but to wake her, she must cometh with me."

"Sorry but that's not going to be possible." Yusuke took a threatening step forward, cracking his knuckles. "While we really don't want to fight you, I have no problem with spanking a kid who's misbehaved."

Mjrn's eyes widened and she retreated a step. "Thou jest!"

Yusuke grinned threateningly, looming over her, he had no ide what jest meant but he was gonna take a guess. "Wanna bet?"

Mjrn's eyes widened even more before she suddenly screeched. It's as if they'd been plopped at the top of a discordant note. The ground underneath them shook with the sound while behind Mjrn, it caved in, black water bubbling up from it then splashing as a figure jumped out of it and stood over Mjrn in a protective stance.

The creature was twice as tall as Kuwabara, its build heavier and its body covered in obsidian feathers. The mouth was replaced with a large black beak and its tilted eyes were as black as the feathers. "You called me, Mjrn?"

Mjrn nodded, glaring at Yusuke. "Halt them!"

_**Next Chapter Preview**_

"Can't you see the walls?"

'There's nothing there so what the heck happened?'

"Ha! I'm the great Kuwabara…"

"A month gone by, I made a promise…"


	19. Chapter 19: Last Movement

CHAPTER 18: LAST MOVEMENT

The feathered guardian jumped over Mjrn, lashing out with its large wings. Like projectiles, the feathers launched themselves at everyone but Kurama.

The feathers were easily dodged, Hiei finding himself in a position to see the violin back in the girl's grip. He hit the ground running, reaching for her violin.

"Now, Mjrn!" The guardian called.

Hiei reached her a second after she'd played the notes and as his hand reached for the instrument, he was pulled back, further and further away until everything rushed past him.

When his surroundings finally settled, he was near the park's event hall and facing him was the feathered guardian. "Oh, look we've ended up together, how horrible." He smirked darkly, his right hand going to the hilt of his katana.

The guardian took a step to his right, black eyes on Hiei. "You should not worry; Mjrn would never let me kill you."

"To bad for you, I have no such qualms over killing you!" He unsheathed his katana and charged the creature.

*****************

As everything around them began to move and he saw the rest of his friends being pulled away, Kurama braced himself, holding on tightly to Fay as the same happened to him, yet something tugged at the figure in his arms and he tightened his grip, but in the end she was wrenched from his grasp and he was hurled back and away. When his surroundings finally ceased their movements, Kurama found himself at the west entrance to the gardens.

"What was that?"

Kurama turned to find Kuwabara had landed near him. "I'm not sure but we must get back before they take her." He ran forward, heeding too late Kuwabara's warning to stop. He hit what felt like a wall, felt a zap and found himself back in the same spot he'd just left. "How is this possible?"

"Can't you see the walls?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama turned to him. "No, I cannot. I take it you can." Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, they're not actual walls but…I think they're made of some kind of blue energy."

"Is there a way to get past them?" Kurama asked. "There's a break in between them." Kuwabara walked forward, avoiding the wall Kurama had hit and moving past it. Kurama followed, watching as Kuwabara glanced past something he couldn't see.

"Hey, I think it's a maze." Kuwabara grinned. "Ha! If that kid thinks she's gonna get the better of me with a maze she's got another thing coming. I've never gotten lost in a maze and I'm not starting now. Come on Kurama, I'll lead the way back."

Kurama followed after him, silently glad that he'd ended up in the same place Kuwabara had. 'Hold on Fay,' he thought grimly. 'We'll get there as soon as we can, just please, don't let them take you.'

***************

"You know, I liked it better when all I had to do was fight demons." Yusuke groused. With demons, he could just pound on them until they gave up, or died, either suited him.

He and Botan had ended up near the Emerald waterfall, no sign of any of their friends in sight.

"Complaining won't get us anywhere, Yusuke. Let's get back." Botan started walking, suddenly yelped and before Yusuke could call out her name, found her in the very same spot she'd been in before.

"What the hell was that?" he looked to where Botan had walked too. 'There's nothing there so what the heck happened?'

"I'm not sure, but it shocked me." Looking around for a way to test it, Botan spotted the trees and walked over, breaking a branch from the nearest. "Let's try this again." She threw the branch and as she had, it vanished, reappearing back in her hand.

"Couldn't I just shoot my spirit gun? I don't think that kid's gonna wait for us to get back before she takes Fay." Yusuke said trying not to yawn.

Botan turned to him, hands on hips. "Oh? And what happens when it disappears and heads right back at you?"

"Oh, right. Guess we try it your way." He seriously hoped the others could find a better way to get through, because unless he could find a way to bring this thing down, they were stuck.

*******************

The music faded softly faded away and Mjrn walked over to the sleeping older girl, she leaned over to get a better look at her.

'Thou appears to me only a mortal girl, however I can feel thine power, hidden deep within thee.' She straightened. 'Thus I must take thee back to mother.' She stepped back, recalling the violin and sounding it.

The music was slow, and as she played it, runes appeared in a circle on the grass beneath Fay. They shimmered white, setting up a round barrier that trapped the girl within.

The next notes would have taken her to her new destination, except that Mjrn stopped playing in surprise when Fay struggled to her knees, blinking her eyes rapidly, trying to throw of the heavy feeling of sleep.

"What…what are you doing?" she squeezed her eyes, shook her head, and opened them. "I should have known better, you really were after me."

Mjrn stayed silent in her surprise, watching the older girl struggle with her spell.

"How?" Mjrn finally spoke. "How canst thee wake from such deep slumber as I placed thee in?" T'was impossible never accomplished before!

It took a moment for Mjrn's words to seep through the thick fog in her brain. 'How did I…'

"He called me, so I woke up." Or at least tried, Fay couldn't really tell if she was awake or asleep right now. Her body felt so heavy, her mind sluggish; her eyes fought against her to close but she had to stay awake.

'He…called?' Mjrn could not make sense of such words. "Thou must give in, there is no other path left to thee now." Mjrn coaxed gently as she began playing once more. The sound was slow yet heavy and although Fay kept struggling, the music was overpowering. "Stop playing that music!" she shouted, collapsing into sleep once more.

Mjrn hesitated. None had ever beseeched her to cease her playing. 'No, I must remember, the Lady represents mother's dream.' Yet the music slowly lapsed into silence. 'I…'

"Enough." The words were spoken softly, yet were so cold that Mjrn could not help the shiver upon her spine. She turned her attention to the two who had managed to make their way back.

"Tis impossible-"

"Ha! I'm the great Kuwabara, and I never get lost, not even in a maze!" The tall youth boasted, chest puffed out.

Mjrn titled her head to regard Kuwabara. He had not become lost? None had ever breached her mazes before; they could not be seen nor sensed. T'was why she had been placed in charge of their home's security.

She turned her attention to the red head. He held in his hand a red rose in full bloom. 'Ah, this is the one.' The one her sister, Corentin, had spoken off when she'd rejoined her briefly before full night. Mjrn had been warned to watch this one, and the small dark hair one, keenly.

"What doth thou plan now?" Mjrn asked carefully, her eyes on him.

"I would prefer not to fight you, indeed the thought of having to fight a child does not sit well with me, however,' his gaze went to Fay before returning to the child. "I cannot let you take her from…us."

"What Kurama said." Kuwabara agreed. "Though I wouldn't fight you, I have a code you know; I don't fight girls, and I definitely don't fight little girls."

They lapsed into uneasy silence, they watching her carefully, she watching them warily. 'Thus he will attack, if I but lift my hand to create music.' As her older cousin would say, 'Well this sucks.' Mjrn finally shrugged. "Very well, I concede defeat. As it stands tis well past my slumbering hour and I have used much energy already." She carefully lifted the violin and played.

The energy walls Kuwabara could see disappeared and the rest of his friends were suddenly there, Hiei landing behind the Guardian, about to strike. The pace of the music quickened and the guardian disappeared before Hiei could finish his attack.

"Is it just me, or is anyone else getting really confused about what's going on?" Yusuke grumbled. He turned to the kid who finished playing her song as the runes around Fay faded.

Kurama rushed over to her still form while Mjrn curtsied to the rest of them. "A month gone by, I made a promise; if one should ever appear that could make their way out of my maze undetected, I shall grant them a wish that is within my power. Your tall friend has done this, thus I grant his wish."

Surprised, Yusuke, Hiei and Botan turned to Kuwabara, who looked puzzled at her words. "What you do, Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"Thus…' Mjrn interjected firmly, shooting Yusuke a mildly annoyed look. "I retreat." She played the violin once more.

The only one to sense the battle field dropping was Kuwabara, and only through the music, then the girl was just…not there, but the echoing sound of her voice flitted through the air like a butterfly. "Be forewarned, my elders will not be so understanding." The sound faded away, leaving them in silence.

"That is one weird kid." Yusuke commented.

"Is she alright?" Botan asked, leaning down to take a better look at Fay. "Yes, she is unharmed; however she still sleeps." The rest joined them, looking down at the girl.

"Didn't that girl say that only her mother could wake her up?" Yusuke asked; if that was true they were so screwed.

"No, she said that her mother could wake her. That does not necessarily mean she is the only one who can." Kurama fished something from his pocket and passed it under her nose. He did this three times before her nose finally wrinkled and she tried turning away.

"Hey, sleepy head, time to wake up." At the sound of Yusuke's voice, her eyes slowly opened and she blinked sleepily up at them. Botan sighted in relief. "You had us worried for a second there."

Still looking a little confused, Fay blinked up at them, her eyes moving from one to the other…then landing on Kurama. "No!" She pushed him away from her, to everyone's shock, and scrambled backward.

"Okay, what the hell's wrong with you?!" Yusuke demanded, glowering down at her. "You know he was worried about you and this is how you act-"

"Yusuke, calm down, I'm sure there's a good reason for it." Botan tried to intervene.

"Well she better tell us now!" He snapped.

"Enough." They turned to regard Kurama who climbed to his feet and turned away. "She is fine, everything else does not matter."

"No wait, Kurama!" Fay scrambled to her feet. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean…but Mjrn and the nightmare…and…and…" she frantically tried to make herself understood. She didn't want to see him looking like that or sound that way either. "I'm really, really sorry." She said bowing.

"It's quite alright." He answered though he still wouldn't turn around. He walked away then, and Fay squeezed her eyes closed trying not to start crying. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!'

"Are you going to stand there all night?" She opened her eyes and turned to Hiei. "No, I guess we better go." She picked up her socks, turning to Yusuke when he sighted. "What's up with you and shoes? Don't you know how to keep them on?"

Fay glared. "I didn't know I was going to go traipsing all over town tonight or I would have kept them on." She took a step forward and hissed, trying to balance on one foot while also trying to take a look at whatever had stuck to her left one. She hit the ground with an 'oof' and sat there, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Fay wondered if it was too early to start crying again, or maybe the earth could just open up and swallow her whole. Yeah that'd take care of this embarrassing situation. Adding insult to injury, Yusuke picked her up, grumbling.

"Hey!" she protested. "I can walk."

"Yeah and it'll be morning by the time we get back home with the way you're walking."

Yusuke was still a little miffed at what she had done to Kurama, but she had said something about a nightmare, maybe she'd just done it on instinct. At least she had apologized and looked like she meant it. Though from Kurama's reaction, she was going to have to do better than that.

"What did happen to Mjrn?" Fay asked trying to keep her mind from the embarrassing situation.

"She decided to give up cause I got through her maze. She probably understood that there was no way she could beat the great Kuwabara. Oh, and she didn't want to end up fighting Kurama."

If there had been a handy wall, Fay would have hit her head against it.

"Don't feel bad, I'm sure Kurama will have forgotten all about it by morning." Botan forced a cheerful tone. At any other time she would have been just a little mad with Fay, had she not felt it was party her fault as well. Maybe she had made a mess of things by helping the girl realize her feelings for Kurama, but since the damage was done she had to find a way to fix this.

'Perhaps I should tell Kurama, he deserves to know…doesn't he?' but then didn't Fay deserve to be the one to tell him? After all they were her feelings. 'Oh, I wish someone would tell me what to do.' At this rate things would get even more complicated than they already were. 'And it's not like I can dump this on Yusuke or Kuwabara.' Most definitely not Hiei. He'd probably make it even worse, if that were possible…if he didn't kill her first for even thinking about it. This meant it all came full circle; back to her.

Botan was so caught up in her thoughts that she would have passed by their building had Yusuke not recalled her to the present. Deciding it could wait till tomorrow, after all she couldn't do much about it tonight, she logged her thoughts away, following into the apartment after Hiei.

As soon as they were inside, Fay said a hasty goodnight and rushed to her room, closing the door behind her.

"I'm going back to sleep, it's not even five o'clock yet." Kuwabara grumbled.

"Same here, see you guys in the morning." Yusuke called over his shoulder.

Botan followed after them, leaving the two silent demons in the living room.

"Taking this a little too personally don't you think, Kurama?" Hiei said a questioning note in his voice.

"Nothing to be concerned over, I assure you." Kurama answered calmly making his way to his own room. "Goodnight, Hiei." There was a note of finality in his voice but no one dismissed Hiei. "I remember you yourself saying once that you couldn't risk getting involved with a mortal. Has your mind changed, Kurama?"

Kurama halted, his posture tense. A small mocking smile graced his lips then vanished as he started forward. The door to his room closed behind him, leaving Hiei on his own.

'Hn…' Hiei turned and walked out the door. Someone had to keep guard, and since he didn't need as much sleep as everyone else, it fell to him. Not that he was doing them any favors.

******************

As soon as she was inside her room, Fay opened her closet, grabbed the first thing that looked made for sleeping and rushed into the bathroom. She took a quick shower, changed and stepped back out into her room, diving for the covers when the cold drifting from the open windows hit her. Of course she knew she'd have to close them soon but at the moment, she didn't really care.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid! This was not the plan!' How could she have done that to him! Kurama probably hated her now and it was all her stupid fault. Now Fay really wished she'd paid more attention whenever her sisters had talked about relationships and stuff, maybe then she would have been just a little more prepared to deal with this.

As things stood, she had no idea what to do but…she hated the thought of him hating her. 'There has to be a way to make this right…but…isn't this for the best?' If he hated her, he would keep his distance, making it easier for her to get over him and return to concentrating on her objective: Finding the crest pieces. Except…her heart didn't seem to think so, the tears, she ignored and curled up tighter under the covers.

Fay was half asleep when she remembered the window had to be closed; she pulled back the covers, looking at the windows only to find them closed. 'How…' Had she closed them herself? 'No way, I'd remember.'

~…Hiei?~ she sent tentatively.

~What?~ Came the annoyed reply.

~Thanks~

~ Get some sleep, with your luck, we'll end up having to fight more than three, and next time, don't leave it open~ There was note of warning as he broke the connection.

Fay fell back on her pillows and cuddled deeper into the covers, finally falling into sleep.

* * *

She ran through the dark woods, looking one way then the other. "You have to keep talking!" she cried out. She wouldn't stop, not now that she was so close. Her lungs hurt from so much running, her legs cried out for rest, but she wouldn't stop. "I'll find you, I promise!" She tried speeding up but her foot caught on a root and she fell, face first into the dirt.

~Fay!~

She woke up with a start, sitting up in bed and feeling confused. 'What…' She set a hand to the side of her head as she tried to recall. Had she had that dream before? 'No, it was a little different.' What did it mean? Or was it just her mind playing tricks on her?

Time went by as she tried to recall but finally decided to shake it off. 'No sense in getting worried over a dream when I already have too much on my plate.' She got up, glancing at the clock then heading into the bathroom. It was still early, so she supposed she'd better start pitching in around here. She couldn't fight, but she could at least do this.

*******************

He had meant to stay awake, but in the end sleep had overtaken him, not even his thoughts had kept him awake. Now that he had woken, they resurfaced, plaguing him. He had not meant for it to happen, indeed he was still wary of trusting these unexpected feelings. 'I…am uncertain on how to proceed.'

It was apparent that she disliked him by the way she could not stand to stay in close proximity to him. Yesterday night had proved that. What's more, she had too much to worry about as it were, for him to add more to it.

He leaned his forehead against his right palm, the cascade of red hair hiding his face. What then, could he do? 'Fay…' Her smile easily came to Kurama's mind, yet the wariness was always in her aquamarine eyes.

For the moment all he could do was try to coax her away from this fear she had of him and at the same time ascertain himself of his true feelings. He knew there was also a second alternative, but the motives then and now were different. Trying to escape his problem that way was the coward's way out, and it would not solve it, not when he would be in close proximity to her and she would still dislike him.

'Or is it fear well hidden?' He did not know, and thus he must wait until he had all the facts and understood them. Only then would he act. Until then he would follow his first idea; he would do his best to coax her from her fear.

Sound finally penetrated his thoughts, coming from the kitchen. He tilted his head. It was Kuwabara's turn to cook. Since his friend could hardly make toast without burning it, much as Yusuke did, he could not imagine him preparing breakfast. Indeed he could not imagine him being up this early. Curious, he left the bed.

*****************

Hiei had gone back into his room sometime before dawn, a few hours of sleep later he'd woken to the sound of someone opening their door. After a few moments, he'd followed, stopping at the entrance to the kitchen and watching as she opened the refrigerator, humming under her breath.

"And what are you up too so early in the morning?" he asked.

She glanced back and smiled. "Good morning, Hiei. I thought I should start breakfast. Since you guys do all the fighting, this is the least I can do. Do you like pancakes?"

He'd heard of the human food, but had never tried it. Not that he'd let her know that. "I really don't care what you make, as long as it's more edible than what Yusuke or Kuwabara make." Botan had proved she could cook…somewhat decently, he had never bothered to learn, which left Kurama the only one able to make something all their palates could stand, but he wasn't one to suddenly turn into a full time cook.

She tilted her head, studying him then smiled. "Okay, pancakes it is." Not sure exactly what had just happened, Hiei considered delving into her thoughts then decided against it…for the moment. He leaned back against the wall near the kitchen entrance. He did still have to keep an eye on the girl.

She started taking out things from the refrigerator, placing them on the kitchen island and going back for more before moving on to the cabinets, going from one to another until she had the utensils she'd been looking for. Without really looking she placed a knife a little too close to the edge of the island and Hiei moved to catch it before it hit the girl who'd stooped to look in the lower drawers.

"Watch what you're doing!" he snapped.

"Hmm?" She looked up, unsure what he was talking about until she saw the knife he had. "Oh, right, thanks." Fay stood and took the knife from him, handing him three other utensils.

Puzzled, he looked from them to her. "And what am I supposed to do with-"

"Do you like strawberries?" she interrupted, fetching said fruit from the fridge.

"Why would I care what they taste like?" Fay appeared to miss his growing irritation, taking the opportunity that his mouth was open; she popped a washed one into his mouth. His eyes widened but since he couldn't speak he showed his displeasure by glowering at her.

"Well?" she asked after he'd finished chewing.

"It's sour, I don't like it." He replied.

"I thought as much." Fay said returning the strawberries to the fridge. "I know some can be really sweet but there usually others that aren't, though you can't really tell when they're mixed. How bout blueberries?" She took out the container and moved to the sink, washing a few.

"I take it there's a reason for your incessant questioning?" Without really thinking he followed after her.

"Yeah, there is; try this." She took the utensils from him and traded them for the blueberries.

Hiei regarded the fruit with some suspicion but finally popped one into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment then answered her question. "At least they're not as sour as the last."

'And we have a winner.' Fay mused turning away as Hiei ate another of the small fruits.

Curious now, Hiei silently watched what she did, now and then she would pass by him and hand him something to hold, which annoyed him at the beginning but forgot about as he watched her move about briskly. Once she understood where everything was, she worked without hesitation, something he'd observed that Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't master, especially when running about trying to put out the toaster they had set on fire.

By the time Kurama arrived, she was handing Hiei his breakfast. "Tell me if you don't like something, kay?" Hiei stared at the plate, then at her before finally taking it. She turned back to finish cooking as Hiei caught sight of Kurama.

"Morning, Hiei." Kurama greeted as he passed. Hiei gave a curt nod in return and moved to the dining room.

"You did not have to trouble yourself." Kurama said entering the kitchen.

A clatter sounded as Fay dropped a large spoon. "Umm…it's no problem, after all you're all fighting…well except for Botan but she also does…stuff…" Fay finished uncertainly. She stooped to pick up the spoon, adding. "Oh…uh…morning."

"Good morning." Kurama replied. She backed away, Kurama catching a hold of her wrist before she bumped into the stove and the pan. She flinched but he ignored it.

"It could have burned you if it fell." He let go and Fay turned. "Right, sorry, no I mean thanks." She moved to the sink, washing the spoon before heading back to the stove.

"Can I be of assistance?" he asked.

Fay shook her head. "No, it's okay, I've got this." She turned to her task with a one mindedness that excluded almost everything else. Uncertain on how to approach her again, Kurama turned to join Hiei in the dining room when Kuwabara appeared.

"Something smells good." Kuwabara peeked in.

"Morning, Kuwabara." Fay greeted, spatula in hand.

"Hey, you're cooking!" He looked relieved that he wouldn't have to take care of this particular chore.

"Yup, how do you like your eggs?" He practically ran into the kitchen. "Scrambled, I prefer them scrambled."

"Is that edible food I smell?" still yawning, Yusuke joined them next.

"Yeah, Fay's cooking! And she actually knows how to do this stuff." Kuwabara responded with a grin.

'At least no one will bother me about it now.' Yusuke thought, not that they'd bothered him overmuch. Everyone had resigned themselves to buying their breakfast most days. "Okay, where's my plate?" he asked entering the kitchen.

"I was here first, Urameshi!" Kuwabara glared.

"Well, I'm here now." He replied with another yawn.

"Get in line you two." Fay rolled her eyes as she turned.

"Hey!" The two protested as she passed in between them.

"Kurama was here first. Here, this one's yours." She offered him the plate.

"Thank you,' he said with a startled look at her approach. She nodded and turned to the other too. "We'll go with first come first serve, so Kuwabara's next."

"Ha!" Kuwabara gloated down at Yusuke.

"Don't get too cocky, you won't always be first." Yusuke replied in annoyance. Kuwabara made a reply but Fay ignored them in favor of keeping an eye on the eggs.

"You two are in her way, out!" Botan ordered the two youths as she arrived.

"I'm waiting for my breakfast; Yusuke's the one in the way." Kuwabara protested, pointing at his friend.

Yusuke's eye twitched. "You're bigger than me, which means you take up more space!"

At least I'm not-" before Kuwabara could reply the two found themselves kicked out of the kitchen by Botan. "And stay out until you're called."

*************

Once breakfast was over, Yusuke and Kuwabara were assigned cleanup duty, they grumbled but complied. After they had accomplished their task, the group gathered in the living room to plan.

"I believe the search for the crest should be put on hold until we've heard from this Oracle." Kurama began.

"No complaints here." Yusuke said. He wouldn't miss looking at a bunch of old stuff. "But if there's another trip to the museum, someone else is going to have to go. Kuwabara got us kicked out last time."

"Hey! That wasn't my fault!" Kuwabara protested over Yusuke's words.

"You guys got kicked out of a museum too?" Fay piped up. Attention swiveled to her. Too late, she realized that hadn't been the smartest words out of her mouth.

"Why were you kicked out?" Botan inquired. She'd forgotten Botan seemed to like pursuing mysteries. "Uhhh…well…"

"Let me guess, you were talking too loud?" Yusuke asked.

She grabbed on to Yusuke's suggestion and nodded. "Yeah, I was talking too loud." Her gaze slid away. "Yeah…that's it." She'd made a pact with the others involved never to speak of it. No one needed that on their record when applying for college...or a job.

Yusuke shot her an incredulous look but changed the topic. "So that means we're free until two."

Botan jumped up. "Then we have time to check out the winter festival in town square. It'll give us a break and we can easily get to the event hall from there." She suggested hopefully.

"Have you forgotten that the factions are still after Fay?" Hiei scowled. "Taking her to a public place will make her an easy target."

"Oh…I hadn't thought about that." Sounding disappointed, Botan sat down.

"Considering yesterday, I don't believe where she is makes much of a difference." Kurama said. "If they want to find her they will, wither she's indoors or outside."

Botan nodded avidly at his words. "That's right; we can't keep her cooped up in here all the time."

"In that case we might as well go take a look." Yusuke stood heading for the coat rack. Botan jumped up following his example.

"I might as well go; maybe they'll have some good games to play." Kuwabara muttered as he stood.

Fey looked from them to Hiei, feeling a little unsure and a lot like a nuisance. "I…I don't want to make more trouble than I already have. If you really think-"

"They've already gotten it into their heads," Hiei left his place near the windowsill. "We might as well get it over with, better than hearing their constant complaining."

"Hiei's right, in this they can be rather stubborn." Kurama stood, offering her a hand up.

She hesitated the slightest, then took it, smiling gratefully. "Okay."

* * *

Graceful hands slammed onto the surface of a cherry wood table. "You're telling me, and I mean really telling me, that you had The Right," Corentin hissed. "In your hands and you let-her-go!?" she enunciated each word by slamming a palm on the table.

The recipient of her anger merely nodded and returned her attention to her breakfast. "Aye."

Corentin spluttered raised her hands half way, made a choking gesture and turned to the door. "Mother! Your youngest daughter is an idiot!"

A woman about Corentin's height stepped into the large dining room. She had about the same built as Corentin and same color hair but where her hair was long, her mother's was made into layers that fell halfway past her shoulders. Where Corentin's eyes were brown, hers were a hunter green behind oval eyeglasses. Their dress styles were different as well; the woman wore a black skirt suit, high heels that matched, and held herself like someone used to being in charge.

Strangers would be unable to comprehend why one woman called the other 'mother' especially when they both looked about the same age.

"That's not nice to say of your younger sister, Corentin. We both know that Mjrn did what she believed was right." The child abandoned her half eaten breakfast, jumped off the chair and ran to the woman who leaned down and gathered the child into her arms.

"She had The Right in her hands!" Corentin exclaimed, trying to make her mother comprehend. "She had her and,' she pointed accusingly at the sweetly smiling child. "She let her go." Corentin accused.

"She did so because she is Mjrn,' her mother stated firmly.

"We could have won the war!" Corentin wailed sounding a little desperate. "You know that the stupid rules of the war pretty much prevent us from even having a foothold! We can't get her to fall in love with one of us cause she's not and we are not!"

When Corentin had heard the terms of the war, she could have killed Fay, if they hadn't needed her. "Now our dream-"

"Our dream will come to pass." Her mother stated firmly. "That will not change, however other…matters regarding the war have evolved. Mjrn, tell her what you told me." Mjrn nodded. "I used upon Lady Fayre, Selene's dream, and she woke."

Corentin raised an eyebrow. "I guess when you take into account who she is…wait…but her body…" she frowned. "Can that really be possible?"

Mjrn nodded. "Aye, but t'was not merely because of what she is; the lady said these words. 'He called me, so I woke up."

Corentin's frown turned even more puzzled. "And that…' Her eyes suddenly lit with dawning knowledge. "She fell in love with someone!"

Her mother nodded. "Yes and it is not someone from the factions."

"Aye, though I cannot say who in all certainty." Mjrn added.

"Who cares?" Corentin laughed excitedly, almost jumping on her toes. "This means that the rules of the war revert back to what they have been for ages past!"

Her mother nodded. "Yes, because whoever this is that holds her heart has not come forward, we must assume that she has not said or he is one who wouldn't make her acknowledge him as her Master."

Corentin turned pensive, thinking back to her battle. "Yeah, you're right. The ones that I fought with must know what she is and none of them seemed interested in anything but keeping her from me." Idiots that they were, but who cared! It gave them the advantage! She silently cheered.

"So now the rules have returned to what they originally were in ages past: one must make The Right submit to their will and acknowledge them as her wielder or in this case, Master." Her mother continued.

"Alright, then what are we waiting for? Let's…' Corentin trailed off. "Right, thanks to that short monster and Fay, I'm pretty much useless for the time being." She fumed. Corentin turned to her mother then Mjrn. "Where are the others? Where's Aunt Iva, Saule, Tijana?"

Her mother smiled. "Iva is the Matriarch of the family. She is, of course, in a meeting with the rest of the House."

"Shouldn't you be there too, then?" Corentin asked. Her mother was recognized as the second in command, at least until Iva's daughter came of age and matured into her status. She snorted silently. 'Like that is ever going to happen.'

"Saule has gone in my place. Tijana is on her own assignment and will return shortly."

"Thou forget one of ours." Mjrn chided gently. Corentin leaned back against the table, arms crossed before her. "You don't expect me to count Isis, do you? We both know what she's like."

"Exactly,' her mother said smugly. "Isis is not only of Fayre's age, or close to it, but she has known her since elementary school, even if they cannot be counted as friends, Isis had more contact than usual the last month before the war began."

Corentin was now nodding, understanding where her mother was heading. "It will be easier for Isis to get a hold of her."

As if their words had conjured her, the girl stepped through the large double doors into the dining room. Unlike them, her clothing was a lot more casual; short dark blue skirt, black V-neck tee, and blue gladiator sandals.

"Aunt Nevena, Mjrn, Corentin, good morning." She yawned and walked past them.

"Don't tell me you just woke up." Corentin said disgusted. Isis slid her a look. "Okay, I won't tell you." Corentin shot Nevena an incredulous look as if saying 'are you sure this is going to work?' Her mother smiled and nodded turning to Isis.

"How was your sleepover?" Nevena asked.

"Good, it would have been great if not for the occasional whining about their bestest friend ever being gone." Isis snorted. "Personally, I'm glad her grandmother kidnapped her again and decided to ship her off to a foreign school. This way I don't have to deal with her behavior. It's just way too bothersome." She yawned and set her head on the arms she'd settled on the table.

"This is going to end up a total failure." Corentin muttered.

Nevena put down Mjrn and settled in a chair next to Isis. "You're still sleepy? You must've been up for quite a while last night."

Of course, the truth was that Isis was usually like this in the morning, early or late, followed by being somewhat absent minded during the day, and sleepy as afternoon turned to dusk. It hadn't been until she'd been picked class president (simply because no one wanted the job and she'd yawned and stretched, hands above her head at the wrong time) that she'd started to make some effort at being somewhat interested in what was going on around her that had nothing to do with wondering if dolphins and whales ever 'boogied down' under the waves, or if clouds tasted like cotton candy…or vanilla ice-cream.

Her mother, Iva, had been quite pleased at the turn of events, until Isis had begun complaint hour.

"Past twelve I think." Isis yawned, brushing back her short brown hair. "I thought I heard you guys talking about me, something I can do for you?" she asked, her tone suggesting that she'd rather not.

Nevena smiled. "Actually, dear; yes, there is something you can do for us." Isis just managed not to roll her forest green eyes. It served her right for opening her big mouth. She yawned once more and straightened in the chair. "So, what's up Aunt Nevena?"

**_NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW_**

"...I challenge you to a game."

'Oh, well. I gave it a try.'

"What am I now, your attendant?"

"I was going to tell you that-"


	20. Chapter 20: Winter Festival

CHAPTER 19: WINTER FESTIVAL

"Look at all the Christmas decorations." Botan looked one way then another, trying to take everything in. "Its almost looks like a wonderland."

'Cause that isn't too mainstream.' Fay mused. It was pretty though.

"Oh, look; they have a carousel." Botan grabbed Fay's hand and started in that direction. "Let's go take a ride."

"I will keep an eye on them." Kurama said starting after them. Not bothering to speak, Hiei followed.

"I'm not waiting around for them to get off." Yusuke looked around until he spotted a game. "That looks…fun." Or would use up some time.

"Hey, Urameshi. I challenge you to a game. Looser has to admit that the other's better."

"Stupid, I'll win easy." Yusuke smirked.

"Ha! That's what all losers say!" Kuwabara shot back.

"You want a fight, you've got one!" Glaring, the two teens wondered of to the closest booth.

* * *

"Why don't you get on with us, Hiei?" Fay asked as they lined up.

He gave her an incredulous look. "You must be joking, why would I want to get on something so mundane?"

"Don't mind Hiei,' Kurama said walking past his friend. "He's simply unused to this."

Fay took a step back from Kurama even as she turned to Hiei with a thoughtful look. "I guess you're right, Hiei. I don't even think you meet the height requirement."

Botan spluttered and quickly clapped her hands over her mouth; Kurama silently turned away, red hair blocking his face.

Hiei's eyes narrowed on Fay. "What did you say?"

Fay smiled innocently. "Well it's not something to be ashamed off, Mary Anne is shorter than even you, I bet she can't get on either and I'm sure she's resigned to it." Fay nodded looking pensive. "Yeah, that's okay; you can just wait for-"

"Out of my way." He stepped past her as the line began to move, glaring at the ride attendant as if daring him to stop him.

"Fay, you do know that there's no height requirement for this, right?" Botan whispered to her.

"Well…no one said I was talking about this particular ride." She whispered back.

It wasn't until they'd boarded the carousel that Hiei realized there were children much shorter than him on the ride, he glared in Fay's direction, then sat on one of the benches, looking as if it had been his idea in the first place. Kurama sat down next to him while Botan flitted from a dragon to a unicorn, then to a sea horse. "They're so pretty; I don't know which one to choose."

"I'm taking the sea horse if you don't mind." Fay walked past the blue hair girl to the green sea horse and climbed up on it. Botan finally made up her mind and mounted the unicorn.

***************

The girl got there too late to get on the ride but even if she hadn't, the ride attendant warned her that she couldn't take all the food onboard with her. She looked torn between the ride and the food but finally turned away, eating away at a corn on the cob on her right hand and then sipping from her hot chocolate on her left, while the two bags of food swung from her right hand.

Later on, she passed by two teens arguing over a game of 'hit the target.' She didn't spare them a glance since her attention had by then been grabbed by a prize in another booth, but after eight goes of trying to topple all the white milk bottles she gave up just as her cell phone began to beep. With an annoyed sigh, the girl retrieved her cell phone and moved away, already knowing who it was.

*****************

"Where should we go next?" Botan asked opening the small pamphlet she'd been given.

"I am not getting on any more of those useless rides." Hiei snapped.

"Not even if the next one goes faster?" Fay asked.

"No." His tone held a warning.

'Oh, well. I gave it a try.' Fay thought turning to Botan. "So which other rides do they have?" she asked.

"Well, they have a zipper ride and a tilt a whirl…" She suddenly trailed off as she looked up, a calculating glint in her eyes. "I know the perfect ride to try next." She turned to Fay but blinked in confusion when she didn't find the girl next to her, for that matter Hiei and Kurama were missing too.

"Botan!" She turned at the sound of Fay's voice and finally caught sight of her near one of the food stands. "Come on, don't you want some?" she called.

'This isn't the time for food!' Botan thought with a huff as she started their way. How was she ever going to get those two together, alone, if they kept wondering off like that?

Once she reached them, she opened her mouth, ready to put her plan into action but was once again thwarted by Fay, who glanced around in search of something. "By the way, where did Yusuke and Kuwabara go?"

Her question was shortly answered as their loud voices reached them. "Idiot, I won!" They could hear Yusuke shout.

"No way, Urameshi! I saw you cheat! There's no way you could have beaten me at that game without cheating!"

"Never mind." Fay muttered wryly.

"Now that we know where those two are, I was thinking,' Botan tried once more. "That we should try the Ferris wheel; you don't get many chances to get on those."

Fay looked up to regard the towering ride. Well…she hadn't been on one of those since she'd been eight and her grandmother had dared her to try and make the gondola swing as much as it could…that had been fun, until they'd been politely asked to never set foot on it again.

"That does sound fun."She decided, not noticing Botan's triumphant smile.

"I have no objections to it." Kurama added.

"Great, then Hiei can wait for us." Botan sauntered ahead, cheerfully leading the way.

"What am I now, your attendant?" he glowered.

"You can always get on it with us." Fay suggested.

"I prefer the wait." He said, looking away.

"Then that's settled." Botan said. "Let's go." Plan in motion, she lead the way. "I think it's only two to a ride so," Botan turned to them. "I'll-" She blinked, looking at the spot where her friends had once been. "Where…where…" She glanced around once more, catching sight of them near one of the game booths. 'What now?' she thought heading over to them.

Fay was looking up a stuffed polar bear with a blue and white neck scarf.

Kurama followed her gaze to the bear. From the way she looked at it, it was almost as if there was something special about it, though that could not be it. 'Perhaps it reminds her of something.'

"This won't take long." Fay said picking up the four softballs she'd been handed.

On her other side Botan looked from the stacked milk bottles to Fay and silently sighted. 'I guess my plan's going to have to wait.'

"Umm…actually I haven't tried this in a while,' Fay said hesitantly. "But I'm a lot taller now." She added more confidently.

Botan sweat dropped at her words and watched as Fay brought her arm back and swung.

The ball hit far to the left, not even coming close to the bottles. She fumed, not noticing Hiei's smirk or that Yusuke and Kuwabara had just rejoined them.

'Okay, this one won't miss.' She thought fiercely. It did, hitting too high up then plopping down, toppling the top bottle. "Hey! I did it, I took one down!" she cheered excitedly.

"Ye're suppose to take all of them down." The game attendant smirked.

Fay glared, ignoring Yusuke and Kuwabara's snickering. "I'm getting to it…I was just warming up."

The man returned the milk bottle to its place and stepped back, unfortunately not far enough, since the next ball knocked the cap clear off his head.

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into laughter, and although Botan really did try to keep from laughing she was having a hard time holding it in.

"Perh'aps you should try a…safer game?" The man suggested.

"It didn't count!" Fay protested, swinging her arm back. The man took larger steps away as Fay swung.

It hit…one foot to the left of the bottles. The man burst out laughing. "Ye sure got some awful aim." He snickered.

Fay turned a death glare on him. "I haven't played this game since I was a kid, allowances have to be made." She said defensively. Great, now she was making a fool of herself…in front of Kurama no less, not that she was trying to impress him.

'Polite but aloof.' She silently thought, but if she was given a survey on how this place did, she'd give the service a big fat zero!

Yusuke laughed. "I think even a kid can do better than that!" Fay was about to turn her wrath on him when the man spoke. "I seen old ladies with better aim." He snorted.

"Okay, that's it!" Fay's hazy plan was to grab the balls and pelt him with it, or just beat him up, either suited her, but Yusuke's hand on the back of her jacket held her back.

"I know your aim sucks but that's no reason to take it out on someone whose aim doesn't." Yusuke smirked down at her.

She shot a glare up at him. "You're next, Yusuke, but first let me at him!" she said trying to struggle from his grasp. 'Wait till I get my hands on him.' She glowered at the laughing man. 'Let's see if he's laughing after I'm through.'

Yusuke pulled her back from the booth before she could manage a step forward.

"Yusuke! You're impeding justice! That game is obviously rigge…" Fay trailed off when she caught sight of Kurama stepping up to the booth, a softball in hand.

"Okay, Kurama will show us if that's true." Yusuke answered her.

He swung, the ball hit, and all the milk bottles toppled.

"There." Yusuke grinned down at her. "I think that answers that question." He let go of her, and although Fay didn't go for the man's throat, she did pout.

'Great, I can't even throw a lousy ball straight.' Not that she had ever been able too.

She'd almost forgotten it had been the first reason she got kicked out of her elementary school's baseball team. Her aim sucked, she swung too hard; no matter how much instruction on that she had been given, and when the ball did hit something, it had usually been someone on her team or the other team, who then had to retire for the rest of the game…or be taken to the hospital…but that had only happened once!

"Isn't that sweet, Kurama won it for you, Fay." Botan's words snapped Fay out of her gloomy thoughts and she looked up as Kurama presented her with the bear.

"This is what you wanted, correct?" He smiled down at her and her heart started a drum roll. Trying not to blush she nodded, taking the bear and hugging it to her chest. She didn't really collect stuffed animals, but she'd once had one almost the twin of this one that her grandfather had brought to her from Alaska; like this one, it had had blue button eyes. She squeezed it tighter, and forgetting herself she hugged Kurama. "Thank you." She said happily.

Everyone but Fay saw his startled expression, the way his eyes warmed and his smile became gently affectionate as he placed his arms around her.

Botan mentally patted herself on the back. Yup, her plan was definitely progressing well. Now, if she could just get them to the Ferris wheel.

Behind Kurama, the man snorted. "Ya sure you wanna keep that one? She seems something of a shrew to me."

"Okay, that's it!" Fay launched herself, or would have, but this time Kurama held her back, picking her up by the waist.

"Excuse us." Kurama said politely to the man and hauled Fay away even as the man laughed behind them.

"I'm still giving a zero on that survey!" Fay called in a last defiance, then huffed crossing her arms, the bear in them.

"Well isn't this nice, you learn something new every day." Botan said cheerfully.

Yusuke snorted. "Yeah, I just learned I'll never have to worry about Fay throwing something at me,' he snickered. "And having to duck."

Fay glared. "Just remember…I know where you sleep."

He laughed. "Like you could ever sneak up on me." Before she could think of a comeback, Yusuke turned to Kurama. "You can put her down now; I know she weights a ton." He joked.

Before Yusuke could move away, he found himself with a bump on his head. "What was that for?" he cried covering the bump and glaring at her.

"For mentioning my weight! I do not weight a ton!" Fay protested waving her fist at him, until Yusuke's words sank in. She froze, slowly turning her head to look up at Kurama, who was indeed, still carrying her. Her heart took up a fast drumbeat, her face heating.

Botan could almost swear she heard the whistle of a tea kettle coming from Fay. She was ready to step in and stop Fay from doing something foolish, like what she had done last night…or what she'd just started doing.

Fay tried stepping back, babbling something about pirates (at least that's what Botan could make out) only to stumble over her own feet. Of course Kurama reached out to stop her fall, changed the direction of the fall, and both ended up on the ground, Fay atop Kurama.

If it were possible, Fay's face turned a deeper shade of red as she tried scrambling back, babbling something that was supposed to sound like an apology.

In the back of her mind Fay was praying for lightning to zap her into dust, of course that didn't happen. What did happen is that she somehow managed to tangle her bracelet with the zipper of his jacket. "Sorry!" she apologized trying to yank the bracelet away.

"Fay, be careful!" Kurama caught her wrist as he sat up. She went still as he worked at untangling the bracelet.

He knew the bracelet meant a lot to her, having it break would certainly sadden her. He finally freed it and she tried scrambling back once more. All her flailing accomplished was hitting him on the chin with the top of her head.

"Enough." He stilled her by placing his hands on her hips. She froze and this time a third party came to the rescue. "I think it's time I step in." Yusuke lifted Fay off Kurama, setting her on her feet and turned to give Kurama a hand up.

"Uhh…Fay?" Botan asked taking a step toward the girl as she took a step away from the group, her face still red. "Umm…I need to go to the bathroom!" she suddenly declared and was off like a rocket.

Silence descended in the group until Botan spoke up. "I'll…just go make sure she doesn't get lost." She told the boys and headed after Fay.

************

Botan didn't find the girl in the bathroom but behind them, leaning against the wall, her face downcast.

"Fay?" Botan asked gently.

"I don' mean to act like a total idiot around him." She spoke after a moment. "It just happens." She gave Botan a half hearted smile. "Do you think he hates me very much now?"

"Of course not, dear." Botan reassured her, he hadn't even complained about Fay accidentally hitting him, but then again he wouldn't, though she noted Fay was rubbing the spot on her head. "I'm sure Kurama doesn't hate you, in fact,' she continued, thinking back on Kurama's expression when Fay had hugged him. "I think he may-"

Fay's misery filled sigh interrupted Botan and the girl slid to the ground, her arms wrapped around the bear. "Never mind, I'm just going to stay here for a while; at least until I can be sure I won't act like total mess."

Botan sweat dropped. The way Fay usually acted around Kurama…that might take a while. "Listen," Botan tried again. "I was going to tell you that-" She suddenly jumped, startled when someone materialized beside her. "Hiei! You could make some noise."

He ignored her, his attention on Fay. "Get up." He said. Botan was about to tell him that that wouldn't do any good, especially in that tone of voice, but to her surprise Fay obeyed, standing.

"It was an accident; don't make a big deal out of it." It was delivered in a warning tone, one Botan would have protested against, but once more, before she could speak up in Fay's defense the girl suddenly smiled, seemingly cheered and nodded. "Okay."

Hiei smirked and walked past the two girls, Fay quickly catching up to him. "So…would you go on the Ferris wheel with me? Please?" she coaxed.

Silence… "Fine, but consider it a onetime event." He finally grumbled.

Fay chuckled. "Okay!"

Hiei stopped and turned to Botan. "We'll meet by the fountain in ten minutes." He turned away, letting Fay lead him to the ride.

Botan's eye twitched, her expression confused. "Did…I…did I miss something?' she wondered. "Oh, nothing makes sense anymore!" She scrambled her hands through her hair. 'Wait a minute…the Ferris wheel? But what about my plan?'

Wind whistled past her as she stood there, unable to figure out what to do. Her shoulders finally slumped. 'Oh well, I guess I better go tell the others.'

The grim reaper walked back to where she'd last seen Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara. They were still there, Yusuke and Kuwabara looking impatient. "So, where's Fay?' Yusuke asked. "And I thought Hiei went after you two."

"Oh…right…well,' Botan laughed nervously, chancing a glance at Kurama. "Fay convinced Hiei to go with her on the Ferris wheel, they'll…uh…meet us near the fountain in ten minutes."

"You serious? Fay got shorty to go on a ride?" Kuwabara asked sounding surprised.

"Yeah, go figure." Yusuke added. While the two talked, Kurama's expression was…placid enough, Botan would say, but there was a coldness to it that sent a shiver down her spine.

He suddenly turned away. "I will head there now, just remember; don't let your guard down." He walked away from the group.

Botan sighted in relief. 'That went better than I thought it would.'

"Hey," She turned to Yusuke as he spoke. "I get the feeling I'm missing something, know what it is, Botan?" he inquired.

Botan forced an overly cheerful laugh. "Yusuke you must be imagining things, I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Riiight." Yusuke drawled giving her a disbelieving look.

"No, I think Urameshi's right," Kuwabara said his tone thoughtful even as Botan tried to interrupt him, hands waving in front of her, not seeing her, Kuwabara continued. "Fay's been acting odd, I may not have known her for long but I'm pretty sure she gets all weird around Kurama, same thing for him; he gets this look sometimes."

"It's nothing to worry about." Botan interrupted, still sounding overly cheerful. Trying to think of a way to change the topic before Yusuke could figure it out, she thought it would take someone telling Kuwabara for him to actually get it; she turned to the spirit detective.

"Have you bought Keiko a souvenir?" she asked. "Remember she told you she was expecting one." Botan turned on Kuwabara. "The same with Shizuru."

Yusuke looked like a deer caught in headlights, before quickly taking a look around. "I…I'll be right back." He said bolting. "Yeah me too." Kuwabara added, heading for a booth.

As they left Botan couldn't help but sigh in relief. 'Disaster averted.' She thought. Those two would only make a mess of her plan, now if she could just figure out what that had been with Hiei. 'He couldn't like her too, could he?' No, she couldn't see that happening to Hiei. Still… 'Now I'm going to have to fix this!' she thought annoyed.

****************

It was a feeling he was quickly becoming used too, even if he had not had much to do with it before. He was…jealous. He had thought that he had made some progress; instead he seemed to have made her retreat even more. He didn't understand, what could he have done wrong? She had even embraced him without flinching.

It had not been until Yusuke had enlightened her that he still held her that she had reacted. He understood her embarrassment, but her need to get away from him? 'And now she has gone off with Hiei.' He ground his teeth in annoyance, his body tight with frustration. What could he do?

A figure sat down a short distance from him on the fountain rim and sighted warily, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked over at the girl, but soon turned away.

"Umm…I don't want to seem rude but, is this Japan town?" He turned back to the girl and nodded, not knowing how she could not have known, considering the banners and…well everything else. "Yes, this is Japan town."

The girl opened a large map and frowned, looking at it one way then the other. "This map doesn't look anything like this place. For one I've been wondering around this place for hours and haven't found a way out where it's supposed to be." She pursed her lips in confusion. "And for another, the garden and town square aren't on this map."

"May I see it?" he asked politely. She nodded and handed him the map.

Kurama turned it the right way and sweat dropped. "I…I'm sorry to tell you but this is not a map to this town."

She looked startled. "Are you sure?" She moved closer looking over his arm. "That can't be right; I mean the Ferris wheel is right there." She pointed into the distance. "Right in the same place."

'This is nowhere near the same distance.' Kurama thought perplexed. The map he held was so entirely different that it was obviously not of this place. He turned his attention to the girl. She was frowning over the map but…she really did appear to think this was a map…for Japan town. He pointed at the words at the top of the map. "This…is a map for Disneyland."

Her expression turned puzzled, then her eyes lighted with understanding. "Dammit!" She suddenly stood, fire blazing in her eyes. "How dare you trick me like…that." she suddenly looked exhausted and sat down.

"Aaahhh!" she whined loudly. "It's just too much of a bother to get worked over." She leaned back and Kurama grabbed her arm. She looked at him with a blank expression. "I doubt taking a swim in the fountain is to your advantage, especially in this weather."

The girl looked behind her, as if barely noticing that there was indeed a fountain there. "Well I'll be…" she laughed, apparently at herself. Kurama gave her an uncertain smile and removed his hand. This girl seemed…somewhat absent minded.

"Is there no one else with you?" he asked, wondering if she had friends looking for her. She stretched her arms over her head and shook her head. "Nah, I just got sent here by my cousin and aunt on some errand. I would much have preferred to escape before they caught me but I think I walked into a trap."

She sighted defectively. "This was the day I was supposed to go whale watching. It's a whole lot of fun; my friends and I were all supposed to go together. They just wanted a chance to catch some rays since it's the first sunny day we've had in weeks. I just want to catch a whale or a dolphin, I'm flexible, dancing." Her face took on a fierce expression. "I know they can dance, you just have to catch them at the right moment."

"Is…Is that right." Kurama struggled to keep his smile in place. 'Sunny day?' He took a quick look at the sky.

No, it had not suddenly gone from heavily clouded to sunny in the last minute…and dancing dolphins and whales? Could she be speaking of the way they splashed out of the water? 'I suppose that could count as dancing.' He was uncertain though.

"Anyway I gotta call my cousin and yell at her." She said jumping to her feet. "Thanks for the help." She waved goodbye and ran off.

Kurama wondered if it was quite safe to let her wonder around on her own. However his attention soon shifted when he caught sight of Botan approaching him.

"Well at least you don't look mad." She said relieved.

"Is there a reason I should be?" he asked standing. "No, of course not!" she laughed.

"I see." He looked into the distance, his gaze on the Ferris wheel. "I…do not mean to pry, Botan, however…I find there is a question I must ask, and you may be the only one who can answer it."

"Oh?" she asked curious.

He turned to look at her, his green gaze serious. "Does Fay-" He blinked and looked from where Botan had stood to where she now stood…about ten feet away from him.

"My, what a lovely day! We shouldn't waste it sitting around! I know, let's go explore!" Jerkily, she started marching away. "Yup! I haven't seen such a nice day in quite a long time." She laughed as she marched into the distance.

Uncertain of what had happened, Kurama watched her depart. 'I suppose…there is no way around it. I will have to speak directly to Fay, if she can stand my presence for longer than a few seconds.' He sat once more and waited for his friends to return.

*******************

"There you two are!" Botan huffed as she finally caught sight of Fay and Hiei. "I thought you were just going to the Ferris wheel."

Fay nodded. "Yeah, that's where we went but after we got kicked out, I wanted to go to the fun house, but Hiei won that one." She shrugged. "So we headed back that way." Fay gestured in the direction.

Botan sweat dropped and glanced at Hiei but he didn't volunteer any information…not that she thought he would. Botan debated asking…then decided she was safer not knowing…for the moment. At least she now knew why she hadn't spotted the pair; they'd gone the opposite way.

"Hey," Fay pointed. "Why are Yusuke and Kuwabara carrying those?"

Botan turned as the two youths approached them. "Uh…Yusuke, Keiko asked for a souvenir, not a teddy bear collection." Botan turned to Kuwabara who held a goldfish bag in one hand and…an Xbox 360 in the other. "I don't think Shizuru's going to appreciate the gesture or the thought."

"That's not for her." Yusuke said. "It's mine, but I'm already carrying this stuff so I had Kuwabara carry it." He smirked. "If they want to give expensive stuff away with these easy games I might as well take advantage of it."

"Wow, Yusuke. I've never managed to win one of those." Fay said impressed. She really had tried; she'd blown twenty dollars on trying before her friends had to drag her away.

He grinned. "Once you get the jist of it, it isn't that hard."

Botan's smile twitched as she pointed at the goldfish. "So…you're taking Shizuru a gold fish?" she asked Kuwabara.

"Hey, it's hard to shop for her…or win her stuff,' Kuwabara said defensively. "I mean she doesn't like teddy bears and stuff." He raised the goldfish bag, looking in at the goldfish. "Come to think of it, I don't think she'll like this either. Eikichi might like it, but only as a snack."

"Wait…Keiko, Shizuru, Eikichi, Who are they?" Fay asked confused.

"Oh that's right, you haven't met them." Botan turned to her. "Keiko is Yusuke's girlfriend."

"That's none of your business!" Yusuke protested loudly. The two girls ignored him, although Fay did notice that he didn't deny it.

"Shizuru's my older sister," Kuwabara explained. "And Eikichi is my kitten." His cheeks suddenly tinged red, his smile becoming goofy. "Then there's my girlfriend," he pointed at himself proudly. "The most beautiful talented girl ever; her name's Yukina and she can heal any hurt just by touching you!"

"…Is that so." Fay murmured thoughtfully. Of course she knew that her new friends had a life back in Japan, it was just the first time they'd actually talked about it…maybe she should make more of an effort to learn about them. 'Yeah that's it! They're my friends now so I should know a little about them…I mean, if they want to tell me…'

"Are all of you done with your little conversation?" Hiei asked, sounding even more irritated than usual.

"Huh? Is something wrong, Hiei?" Fay asked. He'd been fine just a few moments ago.

Yusuke grinned at him. "Yeah, is something wrong Hiei? Feeling left out?" he taunted.

"Don't make me rip out your tongue, Detective." Hiei threatened.

Yusuke laughed, ignoring the threat. Fay looked from one to the other, then to Botan. She seemed to know what was going on but Kuwabara looked just as in the dark as she was. Fay shrugged it off and turned to Hiei as they started walking. "Do you have siblings, Hiei?" she asked.

He looked away. "No."

"Oh, I see." Why did she get the feeling that he was lying.

Botan suddenly began to hurry them along. "Come on everyone, we've made Kurama wait for us long enough."

Fay hesitated in her step. "Is…is he angry,' she blushed. "About me falling on…on…' she stuttered to a stop as Botan shook her head. "Of course not, he's probably forgotten all about it." She encouraged.

"Oh, okay." Fay mumbled.

"Yeah you shouldn't worry too much about it." Kuwabara added. "Kurama's pretty nice; I doubt he'd hold something like that against you, especially since it was an accident."

Botan nodded in agreement. "So don't worry over it."

Fay stayed silent as they finally caught sight of him standing near the fountain. 'Has he been waiting on his own this whole time?' She wanted to ask but her throat closed off as they neared him.

"Yusuke, I see you finally took care of the souvenirs." Kurama said with a smile.

Yusuke's eye twitched and he looked down at the bear collection in his arms. "Okay, okay; I'll admit it. This was a desperate attempt." He turned and dumped them on Fay.

"Hey, what am I supposed to do with all these?" she asked. "Do I look six years old?"

Yusuke grinned. "But I thought you liked stuffed bears, especially after all the commotion you made over the white one."

Fay huffed, glaring. "The only one I want is the one Kurama won for me, I,' she tried giving the ten bears back to Yusuke who stepped back, hands behind him. "Don't want these."

"What, so the only reason you'll keep that bear is because Kurama won it for you?" He teased.

"Damn, straight." She said and froze. 'Great, Fay, why don't you just keep your foot in your mouth! It'll make for a shorter distance!' This was definitely not how she wanted to act in front of him!

"Fay…"

Fay jerked to face him, the teddy bears hiding most of her face. "I…I…I mean, because…you…you went through so much trou…trouble and…you…err…you're a friend," she shot a glare at a grinning Yusuke. "And he just dumped them on me." His grin increased.

"Fay it's alright." She turned back to Kurama as he stepped forward; she stepped back, tripped and fell, dumping the bears around her.

"Maybe we should get some insurance on her; you never know where she'll fall next." Yusuke commented. She picked up a pink bear and hurled it at him, instinctively he ducked, and the bear hit him squarely on the face.

"Ha!" she boasted. "See, my aim isn't bad!"

Yusuke picked up the bear, tossing it up and down. "No, it's just that I forgot not to duck."

Fay's eye twitched and she started throwing the bears at him. "Yeah? Well let's see how many you can duck! Their little noses are hard!" Yusuke laughed and started catching the bears, throwing them back at her.

As amusing as Hiei found watching them make fools of themselves, he soon noticed that they were beginning to attract unwanted attention. "Enough." He tried calling a halt to the childish activities. "I'd prefer if you didn't become a circus act." He remembered not to duck, and the yellow teddy bear sailed past his left shoulder.

"That's not fair, Hiei!" Fay called, getting to her knees. "You're supposed to duck!"

He smirked. "Unlike the detective, I am no fool." Fay laughed while Yusuke looked offended.

"And I'm not Fay, so my aim's just fine!" he threw a black bear at Hiei who easily dodged it.

"You're asking for it, Yusuke." Hiei warned.

"Yeah, yeah." Yusuke answered back.

Their unusual bear fight brought interested looks their way, especially those of children, but just as suddenly the group vanished, leaving the watching people frowning, wondering what they had been looking at in the first place. They quickly shook it off however, and continued on their way.

_**Next Chapter Preview **_

"…how did you get in here?"

"…looks like a really big crown."

"You have you orders, Isis…"

"Guardians of mine, I call to thee."

AN: Thanks for the reviews everyone, see you next chapter.


	21. Chapter 21: The Magus and The Elementals

CHAPTER 20: THE MAGUS AND THE ELEMENTALS

The battle field going up around them effectively ended their laughter and the bear battle. Yusuke caught the last bear Fay threw at him a second before the battle field went up, and she stood, dusting her dress off. Botan stepped to her side as the four boys surrounded them. They scanned their surroundings, looking for the next faction member they would have to fight.

The wind had become colder, the games and booths were abandoned, now appearing eerie instead of fun and inviting. The footsteps came from the twelve o'clock direction, the direction which Yusuke faced. They tensed, waiting for whoever it was to show up.

If it had not been for their encounter with the small Magus last night, they would have been surprised at the girl who walked out from within the white snowy mist that had begun to drift about them. She wore her short blue skirt over warm black tights and her feet were protected by dark blue winter boots, her jacket matched the boots and the hood covered her short brown hair. Kurama appeared to be the only one surprised, though he quickly hid it.

The girl wasn't looking at them but down at a folded map in her hands, she suddenly stopped and looked up, caught sight of them and smiled…then frowned, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Uhh…how did you get in here?" she asked. "You're not supposed to be able to get in here."

They glanced at each other. "Aren't you here to fight us?" Yusuke asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm here to fight warriors."

"Someone calling us warriors now?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke from the corner of his mouth.

"I'm guessing the factions, not that I'm against the title." He answered back.

"That's us." Hiei said, hand on the hilt of his katana. "So if you're going to fight us, fight. If not, leave."

The girl shook her head and took off the backpack she carried on her back. "Hold on a second." She said kneeling down and looking through it. "It must be…ah, here it is." She stood leaving the backpack on the ground.

Instead of a map she now held in her hands lined index note cards that she started to read out loud. "I am looking for a 'short black monster wielding a sword." She looked up at them. "It has a little figure of it right here, but Corentin's not very good at drawing." It looked to her more like a tiny stick figure holding a large stick in his hand.

One by one, eyes turned to Hiei. "What did you just call me?" he snapped, gripping the hilt of the katana.

The girl titled her head and studied him. "Oh, so it's your hair she was trying to draw." She looked down at the cards. "In her drawing it looks like a really big crown."

Someone snorted in laughter quickly muffled as red eyes turned a death glare in his direction.

Not knowing what that had been about, the girl continued. "Okay, next, the red haired cutie." 'That's easy enough to figure out.' She thought turning to Kurama. Everyone else did as well. He sweat dropped, attempting a smile.

The girl tilted her hair, trying to glance past them, she was pretty sure there were two people behind them. 'Does that make them the wrong group?' she thought.

Man, this was beginning to be a total drag! She had better things to do! 'Must finish quickly.' She thought looking back at the cards. "Okay, let's move on."

She placed the card she'd just read at the end and read the next one. "I warn thee…what the, Mjrn! She knows I can just barely understand what she says, now she expects me to read it,' she snorted. "As if." she switched the card once more.

She scratched her hood as she looked down at the writing. "I really hate how Corentin writes; why does she have to make everything so flowy and flowery, I mean come on, can she not get with the times and use a computer like everyone else if she must put something on paper." She switched cards again.

Wind whistled past the group, fluttering their clothes and hair as they watched the Magus mutter to herself and keep going through the cards.

"Okay, I think I got something." She finally said. "One: Politely ask that they hand over The Right." She read out loud. 'That seems easy.' She looked at them. "Okay, so since we have established you're the warriors that posses The Right,' she held out a hand. "Could you pretty please hand the weapon over so I can go home?"

"Sorry,' Kurama said. "But we'll have to refuse you."

"Whyyyy,' she whined. "I really don't like standing around in the cold, I'm more of a sun type of girl." She turned back to the note card. "Two: If they refuse, use any means necessary to take it from them." She frowned and looked at the boys. "Wouldn't that be stealing? I've never stolen anything before." She turned thoughtful. "I don't think wearing all black would have helped me here like Corentin said it would."

'I doubt it would make me look more professional like Aunt Nevena said it would.' She turned back to the group. "Okay, so…I guess we are at an impasse."

"What's that?" She heard the tall one mutter.

"It means to block progress, or that no agreement can be reached." Kurama explained.

"What he said." Yusuke muttered. This was starting to get ridiculous. Kuwabara wasn't going to fight a girl, and even if she had some type of monster she could summon…it probably wouldn't be all that strong, so it was easily taken care of, but she didn't even look like she wanted to be here. He glanced over his shoulder at Fay and Botan. "Any suggestions?" he asked.

Fay was trying to keep herself as well hidden as she could while Botan was standing by her side. The blue hair girl shook her head.

"Tell her she's missing the whales dance." Fay hissed up at him. "That you heard a rumor from…oh, I don't know, Mary Anne that the whales were supposed to dance with some dolphins in San Francisco. Just get her to leave."

Yusuke gave her an incredulous look, as if he were beginning to question her sanity. "Okaaay." He turned back to the girl and repeated Fay's words.

The girl's eyes widened in panic. "Nooo!" she cried out running back and forth in a sudden panic. "I'm missing them! Stupid Corentin! Aunt Nevena how could you! Mjrnnnn! I thought you wanted to see them with meeee!"

'Okay, I've just about had enough of this!' Fay stomped out from behind Yusuke. "Would you get a hold of yourself before I have to slap some sense into you, Isis!"

The girl stopped in the middle of her ranting and turned to look at Fay with surprise. "Fairy! What are you doing here? And…did someone finally blackmail you into wearing girl's clothes?"

Fay glared over her shoulder at Yusuke and Kuwabara, then at a smirking Hiei before turning back to Isis.

"I told you, my name is Fayre! Not Fairy! It's pronounced Fay-ree! If you must call me that! You know I prefer Fay! As for the clothes…let's call it a mix up."

Isis scratched her cheek. "You sure about the name?" She was reserving judgment on the clothes. She'd never seen Fay dressed like this, Isis actually liked the knee length blue gray dress she wore. 'Definitely her aunt's design…wonder if I could get her to make me one.'

Fay's eye twitched. "How could you have forgotten? You spend a whole month practically stuck to me in order to get me to first period class!"

"You skipped class?" Yusuke asked.

"My future depended on it!" Fay defended herself.

"Ha!" Isis said wondering back to the topic of conversation. "You skipped class because you wanted to go practice with all your little skating friends for some dumb contest which, I do note, you aren't even present for! And may I add,' she pointed. "You were supposed to have been shipped off to England to suffer the torment of the damned! How the heck did you end up in a different world? Oh and by the way,' her voice rose. "I hope the Guardian finds out about this!"

Isis looked around; as if expecting someone to show up but when no one did she slumped to the ground, drawing little circles on concrete with her fingers. "No one ever listens to me when it's important,' she conveniently forgot about complaint hour. "And I'm still missing the whales dance."

The group sweat dropped. "Umm…well you can always leave now that you know we won't be handing Fay over to you." Botan suggested.

Isis looked up at her. "Why would I want you to give me Fay, I just got rid of her. I would have spent an hour dancing when I heard, but it was too much of a bother so I watched a program on sea animals instead."

Botan stood over her, uncertain smile twitching. She looked over at the others for help but they had turned away, as if the mist was now the most amazing thing in the world to them. Except for Hiei, his gaze dared her to even try. She slumped and turned to Fay. "She's your friend, right?"

Both girls snorted in derision at the same time and spoke. "As if!" they glared at each other, lighting zapping from one glare to the other. Botan quickly moved from between them.

"I would never be her friend!" The two spoke simultaneously, pointed and glared at each other again. "Stop copying me!" they snapped, glared, then with a 'hmp!' turned away from each other.

"For your information,' Isis spoke to Botan, though the others really didn't have much of a choice but to listen. "I only know her as an acquaintance through my two friends, Nina and Madeline."

"Who were my best friends' waay before you came along!" Fay interrupted.

"So what!?" Isis snapped. "You hardly hang out with them! You're always leading your little following of skaters to the nearest building site to try and break your necks!"

Fay brought her arm up in a threatening fist, the white teddy bear gripped in it ruining the gesture. "We skate! Skate! You-"

She was interrupted by Isis's unbelieving gasp. "What are you doing with that bear?!" she pointed accusingly at the bear Fay held in her right hand. "I tried winning that like forever! And you can't even throw to save your life! How did you get it!?"

Fay smiled smugly and hugged the bear to her chest. "Kurama won it for me."

Isis looked from one guy to the other until Botan pointed Kurama out. "Oh…you're that boy I met a little while ago."

'Well…considering her nature…' Kurama supposed he shouldn't be too surprised that she'd forgotten him that easily.

"You know her?" Botan inquired.

"She…asked for directions." He answered her.

'Must've happened before I found him.' Botan thought.

'Come to think of it…' Isis studied Kurama, until Fay blocked her view of him. "Stop ogling him! You're acting like Corentin!"

"I am not! Besides he's cute, who wouldn't ogle!" Isis snapped back. "Oh, wait, that's right; you wouldn't know a cute guy if there were a dozen neon signs pointing at him!"

"Lucky you." Yusuke drawled at Kurama who looked unnerved at suddenly being made the subject of…shouting.

"At least I know how to cross the street without causing a major catastrophe featured on the six o'clock news. I saw the helicopters and fire engines!" Fay accused.

Affronted, Isis drew breath to shout- and was interrupted as Yusuke stepped in between them.

"Okay, I think we should call this battle a tie and move on." He suggested.

"Fine!" The two snapped and turned away. Fay marched over to the boys and stopped beside Hiei, glaring at Isis who turned around, stuck her tongue out at Fay and picked up her backpack.

"Since you guys don't want to hand over that weapon, my job here is done. If you'll excuse me…" she trailed of as her gaze caught on writing in one of the notes still in her hand.

"PS: Remember that girl you don't like, and whose fault it is that you started complaint hour in the first place? Yeah about her, she's actually The Right in human form. Your job is to bring her back to us, alive, so be nice. Oh and by the way, these are your mother's orders so don't think of disobeying." As she spoke, Isis's eyes began to flare, her body shaking with contained anger. "PS PS: We've run out of those little umbrellas for the margaritas; be a dear and pass by the store on your way back and buy some. Thanks, love and kisses; Corentin."

Isis ripped the note cards into pieces, scattering them to the winds. "Hell no!" Her shout echoed all around them. "I don't care if you are The Right,' she pointed at Fay. "I am not going to fight anyone over you! See yah!" head tilted high, she turned on her heel and stalked off, leaving silence in her wake.

"You know, I've never seen her so animated over something not whales and dolphins." Fay said into the silence.

"You know some weird people, Fay." Yusuke commented.

Kurama coughed. "Yes, well, the point is that we avoided a confrontation with her." Slowly, the group began to relax.

"And that's a good thing." Botan chirped.

Kuwabara nodded. "Yeah, cause there was no way I was gonna fight a girl."

"Hn!" They turned to Hiei. "You shouldn't let your guard down; the battle field hasn't been removed." It was true, the battle field had stayed in place, and soon enough they caught sight of someone returning.

"I said let me go!" They could hear Isis complain. "I'm not gonna risk my guardians to catch that Fairy! Hell- hey ow!" Two figures pushed through the mist and came to a stop.

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "You!" he unsheathed his katana and charged Corentin, slicing her in half. She laughed, starling them as Hiei's sword passed through as if she were not even there.

"I'm not that stupid little black monster." She sneered.

Hiei glared but retreated, landing in front of their group. His gaze jumped to where she held Isis tightly by the scruff of her jacket.

"Yes, I just bet you're confused, but alas I will not enlighten you." Corentin said airily. She scrutinized those in the group. "Two new boys and a girl, I see I only faced half your strength in our last unfortunate battle."

Corentin watched, silently gloating as they took battle stances, Kurama calling his rosewhip, then pushing Fay and the blue hair girl to the back.

'Ah, so that girl isn't a fighter.' She would have to remember. "Yes, you should worry because you won't be fighting me or my dear cousin today. You will be fighting her guardians and I'll warn you, they are no pushovers."

All of them remembered the last summoned creature they had to fight, and not fondly. Yusuke pointed his forefinger at her. "Try it."

Disregarding him, Corentin turned to Isis. "This isn't a game, Isis. This is important, to your mother and the House. Have you blinded yourself so much that you haven't noticed their worry? Their uncertainty over their future, the future of their children…Mjrn's future?" She jerked her forward and pointed to where Fay hid behind the boys. "She is the answer to our problems; her power at our disposal will bring about the world we should be living in! It will realize our dream!" She spoke fiercely.

"A dream that depends on the suffering of another is no dream at all." Kurama spoke softly.

Corentin snorted. "Don't you pay attention to human history, boy? It is all about dreams being built by humans using their own kind as stepping stones! Those stepping stones have suffered and died, but the greedy humans did not care as long as they gained their wish. Long have those humans pushed us to the brink of extinction, partly because of her!" she pointed an accusing finger at Fay. "Did you keep choosing mortals in the hope that this would happen? It is your fault that our kind hides like mice instead of ruling!"

Behind the boys, Fey tensed, her arms wrapped tightly around the bear. "Don't listen to her Fay, she's just being nasty!" Botan placed an arm around Fay's shoulders, shooting Corentin an angry glare. Fay nodded, hiding her face in the bear's head.

"Would you stop?" Isis snapped up at Corentin. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that, Fay is The Right? I mean, come on look at her! She's just a girl, a human one at that!" She tried wriggling from her older cousin's grip but found it impossible.

"Don't let her pretty shape trick you! She may have a human shape but she is still what she has always been…an object of power, one that will belong to us once we bring her to kneel."

"You forget," Kurama spoke calmly yet coolly. "You must get past us to get to her."

"Yeah, and after the way you just talked about her, I don't think you should count on it, you heartless old hag." Yusuke added.

"You may be a girl but Fay's our friend, so we're not gonna stand here and let you talk like that about her!" Kuwabara protested, materializing his spirit sword. That said he really hoped he didn't have to use it on either of those girls.

"I'm just tired of hearing you speak." Hiei said, still looking for whatever it was that kept her immaterial. As soon as he found it, she was dead, and this time he wouldn't let Fay's bleeding heart get in the way.

Corentin laughed it off and released Isis. "You have you orders, Isis. This is not just about you or a whim of your mother's. It's about the House, remember, they look to you as their next leader."

Isis pursed her lips, looking rebellious.

"Don't listen to her, Isis." Botan pleaded. "You know she's wrong about this."

Isis looked over at the group, then back up to Corentin. Finally she sighed, shoulders slumping before straightening and turning to them. "This…it's not personal, okay, but I can't disobey this order."

That was all Hiei had been waiting to hear, he charged forward but like before his sword passed through not only Corentin but Isis as well. "We have more in defense than merely barriers, little monster." Corentin said smugly.

As she spoke, Isis began to summon her guardians. "Guardians of mine, I call to thee. Answer my summons."

"Attack as soon as they appear," Yusuke said grimly. "We can't let them use any of their magic. Botan, stay with Fay."

Botan nodded. "Right, I won't leave her side." She pulled the girl back with her as the wind began to whip around them.

"Windros! To me,' Wind swirled above Isis as she spoke, the top half solidifying into a being covered in light green armor.

"Celis, rise from the depths of the ocean!" Mist began to thicken into a whirlwind of water and ice, a tall figure in icy blue armor stepping out of it.

"Raizu, descend from the black heavens!" Thunder rumbled above, a lightning bolt slamming to ground before Isis and materializing into a being enclosed completely in gold armor that crackled with bolts of energy.

"Firez! Awaken from your infernal slumber!" The last being materialized from lava that cracked the cement beneath them, it rose in a spout, taking the form of a figure in red steaming armor.

"Take them down and bring to us The Right." Isis ordered, somewhat unhappily.

They charged, Raizu dodging Yusuke's spirit gun and sending his own bolt of lightning at the youth who dodged it, rolling to his left.

Celis grabbed a hold of Kurama's rose whip, turned it to ice and snapped it in two, then sent water cyclones to surround him while ice slowly built on the ground beneath him.

Firez produced a sword from lava and clashed against Hiei, the two weapons sparking power. "That sword,' Feriz's voice had a whispery quality as he spoke from within the head armor. "Are you sure you are worthy of wielding it?" he taunted.

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "Why don't we let the fight answer that!" He pushed against the fire elemental, looking for an opening.

'Damn! That means I'm stuck with the wind guy.' Kuwabara looked at his opponent. 'Wait a minute, where'd he go?' He searched around for the armored guy but couldn't see him, until wind slammed into him and sent him flying back ten feet.

"Kuwabara!" Fay called.

Kuwabara felt the wind shift before it reached him. He slowly got to his feet, searching once again.

"Kuwabara don't let him get Fay!" Yusuke shouted over at him. He would do it himself but his opponent wasn't a pushover. Every time Yusuke hit him he got zapped by lightning. His hair was starting to resemble a broom.

Kuwabara looked in Fay's direction only to find both girls running from the wind. "Hang on you two! I'm on my way!" he shouted running after them.

"You shouldn't have called attention to us." Botan said as they ran.

"I didn't mean too, I was just worried about Kuwabara." Fay responded trying to keep up with her. She wasn't as tall as Botan so her legs had a shorter stride, that didn't mean she was a slacker but she'd be a heck of a lot faster on skates. 'I never went anywhere without them before! Why did I decide to start leaving them behind now!' she silently deplored.

"I'm coming!" Both heard Kuwabara yell.

"Could you get here a little faster?" Botan yelled back. "He's catching up!" she could practically feel the wind on their backs, and it was suddenly there, blowing her away. Botan screamed in surprise as she went airborne and quickly materialized her oar, jumping on it and turning it in the right direction as she heard Fay scream.

While the wind had thrown Botan into the air, Windros had caught her, the upper torso appearing once more as it hauled her up. Fay screamed and tried kicking and wriggling. "Let me go you stupid elemental! You have no right to treat me this way!" Windros didn't speak, simply turned and headed back in the Magus's direction. "No! I won't go!" she shouted.

"Let her go!" Kuwabara shouted extending his sword and using it to jump onto the elemental's back. The elemental dematerialized, making Kuwabara fall through, but at the same time he caught a hold of Fay and landed on his feet, his legs trembling from the impact.

"Thanks, Kuwabara." Fay said getting to her feet.

"Uh…no problem." Kuwabara answered shakily, still trying to bring feeling back to his legs.

"Let's go, Kuwabara!" He stumbled forward as Fay grabbed his arm and pulled. "He's coming again!" she warned.

Kuwabara glanced behind him, his expression panicked as he saw the wind hurling toward them. "Damn! How are we supposed to outrun the wind?!"

"Does it look like I know?" Fay snapped trying to keep up with Kuwabara now that he could use his legs again. He grabbed her hand, practically dragging her with him as he ran.

"Get on!" Botan paced beside them on her oar. "Kuwabara you take care of that thing, I'll try to get Fay as far away as possible." She said even as Fay jumped up behind her and held on.

"How am I supposed to do that?!" Kuwabara shouted after them.

"Be creative!" Fay called back.

'Easy for her to say, she doesn't have to fight this thing.' He stopped running, turning to face the armored being with his spirit sword. 'Okay, so I guess I'll try slicing him, and hope it works.' He charged forward, sword held high. All he felt was a blast of wind that sent him sliding back a few feet and when he looked again, the wind was heading upward. "Come back and fight like a man, you coward!" he shouted up at it. The wind hesitated before Corentin's voice rang out.

"You have your orders, elemental!"

'Damn it! I was hoping that would work.' Kuwabara thought grimly as the wind kept moving up. "Botan get back here! I don't think trying to leave is going to work!" he shouted.

The girl was already turning, moving back to him while still trying to avoid the wind. "This is getting us nowhere quick!" Botan said in irritation. 'If we could just shake him, or at least clip his wings.'

* * *

Back on the ground, Kurama tried to keep as far from the cyclones that surrounded him as possible yet every time he took as much as a step the cyclones came closer. 'I cannot stay in here much longer.' he stepped back from the ice quickly coating the ground. 'Just a little longer…now!' The moment the cyclones charged him on all sides the ground beneath them gave way, plunging them into wholes and giving Kurama the opening to move to safer ground, yet still keep an eye on the elemental he was fighting.

Celis kept pace with him, launching spheres of swirling water that exploded on contact, hurling icicles in all directions. They were near impossible to dodge and before long Kurama found himself covered in scrapes. 'I must end this quickly.' He rolled and dodged until he was close enough then hurled a plant sword at Celis.

Celis didn't even sidestep it and the sword did little more than dent his armor. "You will have to do better than this, fox." He stepped on the sword, snapping it in two and freezing it.

Kurama looked at the elemental in surprise. 'How could he know?' He jumped back as another sphere lashed his way. This time he wasn't as quick, the sphere exploded and the icicles hurled at him from close range.

Kurama braced himself for impact but just before they could tear into his flesh a flash of ice blue light surrounded him. He landed in a crouch, looking down at himself. 'That should have done a lot of damage.' Instead he was unscathed. A thought came to him. 'Could it be?' It had the same color as the fish he'd been handed before, one of seven that belonged to Fay's charm bracelet.

"You have something of power with you, fox." Celis said in mild surprise. Kurama got to his feet. This game him an advantage. 'If I use it wisely.'

"No matter." Celis said when Kurama didn't speak. "Its power will exhaust eventually." He spread both hands at his sides calling the swirling spheres which grew icy spikes.

Celis launched them but this time he controlled them by long chains of flexible ice attached to them. He only had one chance to throw them however, since the next moment a plant sprouted from within his armor, wrapping thick vines around him and making him immobile.

* * *

AN: Thanks to everyone who got me to forty reviews, see you next chapter ^^

_**Next Chapter Preview**_

"How much fire do you think you can handle…"

'I should be dead…'

By my decree; first seal, I release you."

"Come on, we have to keep running."


	22. Chapter 22: Battle's End

CHAPTER 21: BATTLE'S END

The two combatants eventually had to move away from the other, but they kept circling, always moving quickly and striking, trying to find a weak point or opening in the other. Although Firez could hurl his sword much like a spear and create more, Hiei did not have that option, especially when the elemental looked so determined to get his hands on his katana.

The two landed and quickly took on fighting stances once more. "You should give up, there is no way you could defeat us." Firez said calmly.

"I don't like losing to anyone, especially servants." Hiei sneered.

Firez snarled something in a language Hiei could not understand and rushed him. Hiei was ready; he clashed his sword against the elementals' once more, trying to push him back. It was proving to be difficult. Firez weighted a lot more than Hiei, especially with all that armor, which made it even more difficult for Hiei to cause damage when he did manage to get through the other's guard.

The sword in Firez's grip suddenly trembled, lava poured from it, taking on a scythe like shape on both sides of it. A small twist of the sword and before Hiei could move to avoid it; his katana was flying from his grip and into the elemental's.

The fire elemental held it for nothing more than mere seconds before he cried out and let the sword drop, revealing the black whirling spikes that had appeared at the hilt. Firez stepped away from the katana as lava poured like blood from his right hand.

Hiei dashed forward and took up the blade, smirking. "It looks like my blade doesn't like you."

"It would seem so." Firez's thick voice echoed.

"Oh and look, you're injured, how sad for you."

Firez glared at Hiei's mocking tone and willed his hand to mend, but no matter how much energy he sent it, the bleeding and his armor were still the same. He snarled and charged, calling to his left arm another weapon.

On instinct Hiei dodged, it proved to be wise since when the hammer slammed into the spot he'd vacated, it ripped a hole in the ground, the energy rippling and turning stone into lava.

"How much fire do you think you can handle, little fire demon?" Firez taunted.

"Enough to kill you!" Hiei exclaimed striking before the fire elemental could react.

* * *

Yusuke staggered back, holding his right hand in his left and glaring at Raizu. 'Damn it! I can't even land a punch without getting electrocuted.' He could take a lot more than a normal human, but that didn't mean he was lightning proof!

The elemental chucked, taking a step forward. "Ready to give up?"

Yusuke scoffed. "What gave you that idea? I'm just getting warmed up." He charged forward again landing a punch on the elemental's cheek and getting electrocuted for his troubles. With a yelp he jumped back, holding his hand once more. 'Okay, I guess we try it the other way.' He pointed his forefinger at the elemental only to find him gone.

"Looking for me?" The words came from behind Yusuke and before he could turn the elemental slashed with his sword, cutting at Yusuke's back.

Yusuke expected to feel pain but all he felt was a slight tingle. He quickly turned to face his opponent placing some distance between them, wondering what exactly had happened. 'I should be dead or at the very least bleeding badly. So what…' A memory flashed in his mind of Fay giving him the small dark blue fish. 'Was that it?'

"That energy shield,' Raizu hissed. "Where did it come from?"

Yusuke smirked. 'Now this I can work with.' "Like I'm gonna tell you." The shield had activated when he'd been in serious danger, but if he could manipulate its power… Raizu charged, lightning in his wake, and Yusuke ran to meet him. 'Hope this works.'

He slammed a fist into Raizu's face, the dark blue energy rippled, blocking the lightning that would have harmed Yusuke and giving him the advantage he needed. Raizu, surprised at what had just happened, didn't react quickly enough and found himself pounded over and over by Yusuke.

* * *

"I'm ending this fight, except for Windros; they're all getting badly beaten!" Isis called on her magic about to recall her elementals when Corentin gripped her arm. "You know very well you can change the tide of this battle. Release the first seal on their power."

Isis gritted her teeth glaring up at Corentin. "Don't you think this is enough for one day?" she snapped.

Corentin shook her head. "It will never be enough until we have The Right, now do it."

Isis jerked her arm from Corentin's grip and began to write glowing symbols in the air before her. "By my decree; first seal, I release you." There was a sound like that of a bell towing and the elementals' power increased three fold.

* * *

Firez's mangled arm healed in the blink of an eye once his power was released, the lava seeping from his left side and throat closed and his armor itself turned to lava.

"Don't let a little power get to your head," Hiei warned. "I'm still going to kill you."

Firez laughed tauntingly. "We shall see." Hiei was quick and so was Firez but with the added power, Hiei found himself slammed to the ground, an involuntary cry ripping from his throat when the lava that was now Firez's armor began to burn away his skin.

*******************

Kurama had hoped his plants would have held Celis a little longer and perhaps they would have, if the seal had not been broken on the elementals' power. Celis had quickly torn plant from armor and encased Kurama in this prison.

The shield protected Kurama from the icicles that protruded from the walls of the ice prison, it still left him trapped, but hopefully not for very long. He reached into his hair, pulling out the small seed and letting it drop to the icy ground, his energy already in it.

The icicles tried once more to get through the shield around him, every time an ice blue energy broke them apart but little by little Kurama could tell it was weakening. He poured more power into the seed and it exploded into life, eating away at the ice and growing in stature.

The ice prison broke apart and as it did something slammed into Kurama, hurling him back. He quickly climbed to his feet looking for what had tried to gut him. He found it quickly enough in Celis's hand. The ball and chain, had the barrier not sprung to life, he would be bleeding to death by now, if not dead. He didn't know if he'd be so lucky next time. "As fun as this has been, fox. I must bring this battle to an end."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "So far I've managed to avoid all your attempts to end this battle, what makes you think you will win, even with your added power?"

Inside the armor, Celis smirked. "You don't really think all we have is one seal on our power...do you."

******************

Yusuke moved away as Raizu jumped to his feet, his cracked and broken armor reconstructing itself. 'Oh crap!' They didn't need this! "Spirit gun!" the energy shot hurled forward at the same time Raizu hurled a ball of lightning at Yusuke.

The energy clashed, the resulting boom blinding everyone in the battle field momentarily. When his eyes cleared Yusuke found himself face to face with Raizu, or armor to face.

"Goodbye." Raizu slammed a glaive into Yusuke's stomach; Yusuke let the momentum take him then climbed to his knees as he stopped rolling, a hand to his stomach. The barrier was weakening, another one of those and he'd be a ghost again. 'If I'm lucky.' He thought getting to his feet.

"Spirit Gun!" He should have known that the elemental would dodge it. 'Guess I'm down to one trick.'

******************

Botan hadn't managed to get them back to Kuwabara; instead the wind had blasted them of the oar. Both girls screamed, but the wind had gone after Fay and Botan had been left to crash into the ground before she could call back her oar. She expected pain; instead her fall was slowed enough so that Kuwabara could catch her.

"What about Fay?" Botan asked as she was set on her feet. Her shouts answered Botan's question.

"I couldn't let you fall!" Kuwabara defended himself. "But I'll get her back now."

They both ran toward the girl struggling against the wind elemental. She kept striking at his face, but with the armor on she was doing more damage to her hand then to Windros.

"We're on our way, Fay!" Botan called. "Just hang on a little."

"I'm trying!" Fay shouted back trying to struggle from Windros's grip. "Let me go!" she protested. "I said, let me go!" she hit the elemental once more but this time her bracelet slid forward striking as well. It hurled the armored being away, tearing her from his hold.

"Ha!" she shouted triumphantly; until she realized that she was falling from high up. 'Oh…damn!' she thought as she began to fall.

"Make the bracelet slow your fall!" Botan called up at her.

"How am I supposed to do that?!" she cried out. The bracelet glowed, slowing her fall and acting like a parachute…or an umbrella. 'Great, now I feel like Mary Poppins.' Fay thought wryly. She supposed it was better than turning into a splatter on the ground.

Fay landed safely on her feet, close enough to watch Raizu's glaive slash open Yusuke's side.

"Yusuke!" she cried out and ran to him only to stop when she heard Hiei's involuntary scream, then caught sight of Kurama wrapped in an icy chain.

'No…' she thought shaking her head in denial. 'This can't be happening, they…they can't die!' "I won't let them!" she screamed. "Enough! I'll give myself up, just don't hurt-"

"Don't you dare do something stupid like that!" Yusuke's shout stopped her, bringing her attention back to him. Ignoring his bleeding side, Yusuke glared intently at her. "We're not going to lose so don't you give up on us!"

Fay shook her head. "Idiot! You're bleeding!"

Instead of answering her he grabbed Raizu by the neck and ignoring the lightning that sizzled around him, started pounding the elemental with growing strength. "It's just a stupid scratch! So don't you dare think I'm going to lose!"

Raizu lost his footing and fell to the concrete, yet Yusuke continued to pound into him, cracking his armor once again.

"Did you hear me, Fay?!" Fay blinked back tears and nodded. "Okay, but you better not get killed!" she shouted back at him. He sent her a determined grin.

"Come on, we have to keep running." Botan and Kuwabara reached her, tugging her to follow them. "Yeah, besides Hiei and Kurama can take care of themselves." The taller youth gestured their way.

Hiei had managed to rip himself away from Firez's grip and although the skin on his neck was burned, torn and bleeding he had Firez on his knees, his quickly heating blade stabbed near the elemental's heart, while Kurama's arms were wrapped by a plant that seemed to absorb Celis's attacks. As they passed by him he chanced a glance their way and smiled, as if to reassure her before turning back to his opponent.

Isis's voice reached them, repeating almost the same words, except this time it was a second seal. The sound of a bell towing twice echoed.

'I'm gonna have to take on this guy.' Kuwabara thought. 'Before he gets much stronger.'

"Okay, I'm tired of this guy, you guys keep going! I'm gonna slice him to pieces!" Kuwabara stopped and turned sword energy in hand.

"Be careful, Kuwabara!" Botan called back at the youth and kept running.

Kuwabara nodded and gulped. So far he could tell this elemental had been playing with them, as if it were some cat and mouse game, but telling by the speed and power Windros was putting into his rush, Kuwabara figured he was done playing.

Kuwabara didn't even have a chance to swing his sword; the wind hit him with the force of a rushing river, dragging him along, tearing at his clothes and skin. "Gah!" Kuwabara coughed out blood and hit the ground rolling.

The same wind came close enough to Celis and Kurama that it tore the plant to pieces and slammed Kurama away.

"Windros!" Celis snapped. "This is my battle; I will handle it my way."

Windros snorted. "No more playing, can you not tell these beings are increasing in strength?" Startling, the voice was female.

"Finish it, Celis!" Windros rushed past him, heading in Botan's direction. She came to a sudden halt when she realized the girl was kneeling next to the first she'd brought down, the tall youth and appearing to try and heal him with her power…on her own. The other girl wasn't with her. The wind sang to her, and Windros turned.

Their target was kneeling next to the disguised fox, who was slowly but surely trying to get to his feet. 'Count your luck little fox, any other would have been torn to pieces.' Come to think of it, the same could be said for the tall youth.

No matter, they would die soon anyway. Her job was to retrieve the target. Languidly, she moved forward, already her brother moved to finish the fox, once he did she would take the girl.

"Kurama!" Fay slid to her knees beside Kurama, relieved when he started moving. "I'm fine…the pain isn't too bad." He climbed to his knees and cried out, clutching his left shoulder. 'I think it may be fractured, if not broken.'

"Your shoulder!" Fay's teary gaze was on the shoulder he clutched. "Its fine,' he reassured her though he couldn't stop the pain that seeped into his voice. "Just bruised." He climbed to his feet with her help as the cold began to swirl about their feet.

"Farewell." Celis's voice reached them, his shadow towering over them. Kurama turned, already knowing he couldn't dodge the weapon, not when his body wasn't responding as it should and Fay at his side.

The decision was taken from his hands in those few seconds, as the claymore fell he was pushed away. His widening eyes caught her aquamarine gaze. She smiled a second before the claymore sword slammed into her back, the sword slicing through her chest, too close to her heart.

"Fay!" Kurama cried out, catching her as she fell. He was aware others called her name, but his attention was on her form as blood poured from the wound.

"Fay!" Ignoring the pain in his shoulder he wrapped her in his arms, his green gaze tormented. "Why? You know what Vainam told you, you cannot-" Her face began to pale, as if she'd been out in the cold for too long.

"Celis! What sword did you use?" Isis demanded.

"The Winter Claymore, I did not know she would-"

"What does that do?" Kurama asked his voice filled with icy fury. Energy was beginning to roil about it him, slowly changing, much like his appearance.

"It freezes the body from within." The words came from the wind elemental who chuckled, as if it were funny. "And since it pierced so close to her heart, she will not survive, I give her minutes, if that."

"And that's supposed to be funny!?" Kuwabara shouted, charging at the elemental. Windros turned but couldn't stop the energy sword as it sliced her form in half. There was an angered screech and a blast of wind, then the wind elemental vanished.

Raizu's form was torn into pieces by Yusuke's spirit wave, ashes was all that remained of Firez's form after Hiei released his dragon of darkness attack.

"It's your turn." Feeling panicked, Celis turned back to the speaker, only to find the being he'd been fighting had completely changed. It's all he managed to observe before a palm slammed into his chest and something wriggled within him, burning him from the inside and tearing at his form. He screamed and dissolved into a puddle of water.

Botan knelt beside Fay as the boys turned to the Magus's. 'The sword, we have to pull the sword out.' At least she hoped that would help stop whatever was going on. She took a hold of the hilt and yelped, letting go. It was so cold it was almost hot.

"They left!" Yusuke shouted in anger.

"They're cowards, that's what cowards do." Hiei said.

The battle field dropped, yet before they could appear in their world, another rose to take its place.

They paid it little heed as they turned their attention to their fallen friend. "I can't get the sword out." Botan cried. Hiei grabbed a hold of it and pulled it out, the sword shattered into icy dust that drifted in the wind as Hiei threw it away.

"Do you think that'll do it?" Botan asked. She remembered that Fay had come back from the dead once but…this thing sounded a lot worse, if that was possible, from last time. What if she didn't have enough energy? "We have to do something!" she cried out in a panic.

"Dammit! I thought we agreed you wouldn't do this again, Fay!" Yusuke shouted, pounding a fist into the ground.

"That will do her little good now, Yusuke." Youko said grimly. Blood seeped from the wound in her chest, her skin was turning icier by the moment, and her heart beat, his ears twitched, he could barely make out the sluggish sound. "We need to stop the bleeding."

"It's not like we're near a hospital, or carry a stupid kit with us!" Yusuke snapped angrily.

"I can try giving her some of my energy-" Botan suggested before Hiei cut her off.

"You've already used it to heal Kuwabara, anymore and it'll be your life energy."

"Well, we need to do something!" Botan cried out. "She's dying!"

Botan's voice seemed to wake, somewhat, the girl in his arms. Her eyes opened the slightest, looking up at Youko. She whispered something he had to strain his hearing to hear then nodded. "Yes, it's me."

"Fay?" Botan leaned over to look at her, but her eyes had closed, as if that small attempt had been all she could manage.

"Dammit! Fay wake up now!" Yusuke shouted.

Youko placed a hand to her chest; he would stop the bleeding as best he could.

"Shouting will do her little good, as your friend said." They turned to the new voice, tensing.

A woman of mid-height approached them. She had on a cream color turtle neck sweater, a long black skirt and black boots. Her long black silky hair hung loose down to her waist, and her blue/green eyes were gentle yet worried as she took them in.

On both sides of her, one step behind, walked two young women around the age of twenty-two. They were identical to each other, brown hair up in twin buns, orange eyes, and wore Chinese dresses of silver; the cold seemed to not bother them at all.

"If you're looking for a fight…" Yusuke warned. She shook her head and bowed politely. "My name is Amalthea; I am the oracle you were to meet in a few hours." The two women started forward, stopping before Youko who cradled the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Please, if you want us to save your friend, you must hand her over. We do not have long." Youko held her tightly for a few seconds before finally handing her over. "If anything happens to her…" he warned.

Amalthea nodded. "I understand."

The two women walked back the way they came, disappearing like mirages in a desert. "I know all of you have questions, but they will have to wait, please follow me." She turned and started walking, the group following.

"Are you sure you can save her?" Botan couldn't help but ask. "I mean she's gotten hurt before but this sounds…"

"Much worse, yes, in a way it is. Only because her body used a lot of stored energy last time to heal her body rather quickly. There was more to what struck her last time. Those claws held a deadly poison that her body had to work overtime to get rid of. The energy that would have helped this make it a minor wound was not present."

'Which means she made it sound like nothing.' Yusuke thought grimly. Fay was gonna get an earful once she woke up. 'And you better wake up or I'll kill you myself.' He thought hands curled tightly into fists.

As Amalthea spoke mist thickened about them then dissipated and the group found themselves standing on wooden floors. "Welcome to the event hall, it is where we were supposed to meet." Amalthea turned back to them.

"Where is Fay?" Kurama asked.

Amalthea titled her head and studied the red hair youth. 'He's changed form…' She turned and led them down a hallway, stepping aside as they reached an open doorway.

The two young women were inside, chanting in an ancient language. Between them, in a sphere of rotating runes rested Fay. The women didn't stop at their entrance but continued the chanting.

"What are they doing?" Kuwabara asked.

"It's an ancient spell of deep healing. It will heal her but I'm afraid she will not wake for little over a week." Amalthea's gaze had been on Fay, now it turned to them. "I will see to your wounds now. After that I can answer your questions; however I believe it may be better if we wait until Fay wakes to answer those related to the crest."

"That's fine." Botan said. Amalthea nodded in acknowledgement and led them to another room.

* * *

Isis stormed into the study, not bothering to knock. "Look what she made me do!" she snapped angrily at her mother.

Iva looked up from the paperwork she'd been doing and raised a slim eyebrow in question. "Perhaps you could give me a more definite explanation?"

Isis slammed her hands onto the desk. "Not only did I almost cause the death of a friend-"

"I thought Fayre was merely an acquaintance." Iva interrupted.

"Well she's been promoted to friend!" Isis snapped. "And I don't attack friends, whatever power they may have. I almost killed her! Not only that my elementals lost their forms! You know how long it takes for them to regain new ones! And they're whining at me! Whining!"

The Elementals never whined about anything, but now they were up in arms about a rematch and Windros was not happy that the female form she, for lack of better word, had picked was gone.

"Isis-' Iva began.

Isis pointed. "Don't give me that 'be reasonable' tone of voice! It won't work this time mother!" she turned to leave stopped midway and spoke. "Kurama's right: a dream that depends on the suffering of another is no dream at all." She stalked out of the room, the double doors slamming shut behind her.

Iva sighted, tapping her pen on the wooden surface. "Well, Tijana, what do you think?"

A woman with long white straight hair, pale olive eyes and dark skin coloring stepped from the shadows. She wore a white sarong dress printed with green fronds and matching sandals.

"Do not fault her; she is of her time, as we are of our own."

Iva leaned back against the backrest of her chair, her long green hair spilling over. It was striking how different she was from the one she called daughter. Her hair started out straight then turned wavy as it fell down to her knees. She had a long lithe body, pale skin coloring and forest green eyes, the only feature that tied Isis and her mother together.

Next to Iva, even Corentin could merely be called pretty, where calling the leader of the Magus beautiful was an understatement. Today, she wore a silver silk gown that slid against her skin like water.

"True, and yet she is the future, a future we need that girl's power to protect." Iva's gaze moved to the large windows that looked out to the gardens. Once upon a time, when she had been young, her mother had been the one in charge of all this.

Iva had thought that once she came into power this world would be the world her mother had dreamed off. Yet here she was, and unlike her, her daughter cared little for their ambitions'.

"It is only a matter of time until The Right falls into our hands and Isis sees our side of the argument. After all she is Magus, do not worry, all will be well." Tijana reassured her calmly.

Iva turned back to Tijana as she continued speaking. "I believe that for the moment we should take a step back, let others exhaust their forces against The Right's warriors, as young as they are, they are powerful. They will hold until we decide it is time to claim what is ours."

She stood, walking over to the window. "The other factions act slowly, believing that we will do their work for them; let them take the fall for a while. Mjrn works on a plan as we speak, one that will not fail."

Iva nodded and stood. She was done with paperwork today. "Very well, Tijana. We shall watch and wait for the time being."

_**Next chapter preview**_

"_Him, she listens too."_

"_It must never happen again." _

"_I suppose so but-"_

"…_It's never failed for her!"_


	23. Chapter 23: Conversations

CHAPTER 22: CONVERSATIONS

The week that followed was quiet and a little tense. No one showed up to try and kidnap Fay, but then Amalthea had told them that the factions would have sensed the drop in The Right's life force and wait until she had safely recovered. And while the twins, Chun and Chen, had managed to heal Fay, Amalthea had warned them that wasn't the end of it.

Not long after they got home Fay was pulled into a raging fever. She started muttering in her sleep and Botan tried her best to stay near her, in case Fay started saying things she'd rather most of them didn't know. She shouldn't have worried, most of what Fay said none of them could make out, and what they could was about some sort of dark forest and trying to get to someone, since none of them understood what that was about, they chalked it up to dreams though Hiei didn't look all that convinced.

No one was happy at the way the battle had ended though. Although they were grateful that Fay had saved Kurama once again, they were not happy that she'd put herself in danger again when they were supposed to be protecting her.

It was one of the reasons Botan had to listen to Koenma's long and rambling speech of what should have happened and how, after which he added that he knew everyone had tried their best and it was no one's fault but the unfortunate circumstances.

Yusuke and Kuwabara got into a fight on the third day, shouting about who was supposed to have been protecting her, and having to deal with the stupid wind (which had not been a girl! Kuwabara insisted) until Botan stopped them, reminding them both that Fay needed quiet and this wasn't the best way to thank her for her sacrifice.

Both teens went off after that and Botan later found out they'd been training. The day after that she found the two in the kitchen, muttering over some recipe they'd found and how they were supposed to follow the directions. Their dinner ended up looking odd but rather tasteful, something the two were very smug about and soon got into a fight about whose ingredients had made it taste good.

Kurama rarely left Fay's side, helping Botan get the girl to drink the medicine he made to lower her fever. Hiei was usually perched on the windowsill, keeping an eye on her and the street, now and then he left to patrol the neighborhood but he always came back an hour later.

Once, after Botan had been making her way back from Spirit World she'd caught sight of him near the Winter Festival, looking up at the Ferris wheel, at least that's what she'd thought he'd been looking at, but when she looked for him again he was gone.

On the fifth day, surprisingly enough, Mary Anne dropped by grumbling about being forced to do so. She checked in on Fay, answered questions Fay had been unable to answer and left some items for her, including more clothes and shoes from her aunt Marietta and a small purse from her mother. Mary Anne mentioned that she had been going to bring some kind of jeweled knife from Fay's grandmother but her mother caught sight of it and an argument had started, Mary Anne had taken that as her cue to get out of that mad house. She left soon after that, reminding them to keep their guard up, as if they needed the warning, Yusuke had grumbled soon after she left.

Fay's fever broke that sixth day close to eleven and everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even if some were a little more discreet about it.

It was late on the seventh day, when Kurama had stepped out for a few minutes, and Botan sat on a chair beside the bed that Fay stirred, opening her eyes before slowly sitting up.

Botan stopped mid yawn and launched herself at her. "Fay! You're awake!" she cried out relieved. Fay blinked the sleep from her eyes and nodded. "I'm sorry; I made you worry again, didn't I."

Botan sat back her eyes teary. "Of course we worried! You really did almost die this time but,' She sniffed. "It's okay since you're awake now."

Fay smiled and brushed back her hair. "So…how am I still alive?" Botan recounted what had happened after she'd fallen unconscious.

"So you have to swear never to do something like that again!" Botan turned serious, pointing at Fay. "We've all been so worried, and the guys have been feeling like they didn't do enough to keep it from happening." Fay's eyes darkened with guilt. "I'm sorry, but they shouldn't feel that way. What I did, I chose to do. Wouldn't you have done the same?"

Truth be told, Fay had never thought herself the type of person for personal sacrifice, especially when it came to her own life. Sure she would have called a warning, but actually letting herself get sliced like that? No way.

If this is what falling in love did to people, Fay wished they'd warned her, not that it would have done much good she supposed, although if they had told her before all this started that she'd willingly give up her life for another not once but twice, she would have politely escorted them to the nearest psychiatric hospital. Shows how much she knew.

"Well…I'm not sure." Botan frowned in thought, shook it off and continued. "But then you leave us to deal with feeling guilty."

"I know, I'm-"

"No more sorries," Botan warned. "Just be more careful next time."

Fay nodded in agreement just as the door burst open.

"See, she is awake!" Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed in.

"You idiot!" Yusuke bopped her on the head.

"Hey! That hurt!" she cried out glaring up at him.

"It's supposed to hurt! I should do worse to you for pulling something stupid like that! I thought I told you not too." he yelled.

"Calm down, Urameshi, we don't want her going into another coma because of head trauma." Kuwabara cautioned.

"You shut up! I'm not done yet!" Yusuke snapped.

Was it her or…were his eyes over bright? "I'll try my very best to not let it happen again." Fay promised. "Scouts honor."

Yusuke snorted. "Right, like we don't know you were kicked out of the Scouts for forging badges and feeding those cookies to squirrels."

Fay's eyes widened. "Where did you learn that? That's top secret information only known to my family! Did Zadkiel stop by?!"

Yusuke smirked down at her. "Like I'm gonna tell you."

Fay turned a questioning look to Botan who looked away from her and quickly stood. "Well you're probably hungry; I'll bring you something light to eat." She said cheerfully.

"I'm going to find out!" Fay called after her as the door closed. She crossed her arms and grumbled under her breath.

"Hey." She looked up at Yusuke. "Seriously try not to become shish kabob again."

Fay sighted. 'Why thank you Yusuke that paints such a lovely picture.'

Besides that how was she supposed to explain that…that…oh, she didn't even know! She just couldn't stand the thought of living in a world where she couldn't see Kurama smile; that even if he only liked her as a friend she was still happy to be near him despite her circumstances, heck she didn't care at all about it until her evil brain or someone else shoved said circumstances back in her face. She just wanted to see him smile, and even that she couldn't manage to do right. So…how was she supposed to just watch as he was killed because of her? Not that she'd ever tell Yusuke that.

Without thinking she shook her head, caught sight of Yusuke's expression and nodded quickly.

He looked as if he was going to continue berating her but just then the door burst open and Kurama rushed in. "Morning Kurama…err…wait is it morn-" She was cut off as he ran across the room and embraced her.

"I apologize, for being unable to protect you." He whispered.

Her eyes widened. "Please don't apologize, it was my decision-" His grip tightened around her. "It must never happen again."

Hesitantly her arms went around his waist and she nodded. "I promise, it won't."

She heard Yusuke snort. "Him, she listens too."

Fay decided she could kick his butt later.

"I think some chicken soup will do for tonight." Botan said cheerfully as she entered the room. "I don't think-" She paused as she caught sight of Kurama and Fay. "Oh, did you finally…" she trailed off when Fay shot her a warning look. 'Guess not.' Botan thought and changed her words. "See that she's awake, umm…I brought some food for her."

"Or should we just leave you two alone for a few minutes?" Yusuke teased.

Kurama stepped back, his cheeks slightly pink. "Of course not, some food will do Fay good." He took the tray from Botan and inspected the contents. Seeing that nothing would be too heavy for her stomach, he placed it on the bedside table and handed her the bowl. She took it, about to start eating when she realized something. "Hey…you said you met the Oracle, right?"

Botan sweat dropped. 'Now she realizes it?' "Yeah." She answered. "But if you're going to ask about the crest, don't. Amalthea decided it'd be best for us to wait till you woke up." Botan thought. "Actually, we'll be meeting her tomorrow noon…like she said we would."

"I guess that answers the question of wither she's real or a fake." Yusuke stood up, yawning. "Since it doesn't look like we'll be planning your funeral sometime soon," Fay debated throwing something at him, then contended herself with the mental image. "I'm going to bed, it's almost twelve."

Kuwabara stood up from where he'd been sitting on her bed. "Yeah me too, night Fay, try not to end up in another coma."

"Why thank you for those heartwarming words!" she called after them.

"You may go to bed if you wish, Botan. I will look after Fay." Kurama told her.

Botan looked at him, a little unsure. "Oh…I…" She glanced at Fay. The girl was discreetly trying to beg her not to go but Botan could practically hear her panicked scream.

'What to do…' Botan deliberated. On one hand this was ideal to her plan. She could leave and finally get these two alone; something had to happen then….ight?

She glanced at Fay. 'Oh well, I suppose I could give her a break this one time.' Botan turned to Kurama. "Actually, I think you should be the one getting some rest, I mean who knows what could happen tomorrow, and you have been the one looking after her most often."

"I suppose so but-" Kurama was cut off as Botan got to her feet. "You just get some sleep and not worry about a thing, if anything happens I'll call you right away, night Kurama."

"Goodnight Kurama." Fay added.

The door suddenly closed before him, and Kurama stood there for a few seconds, wondering exactly how he'd gotten there…with a shake of his head he turned and walked across to his room.

*************

Botan turned back to Fay who was finishing up her soup. "You're going to have to tell him sooner or later." Instead of answering, Fay put more food into her mouth, thought about it and shook her head.

Botan huffed. Why was she being so difficult! "He's going to find out even if you don't tell him,' at her panicked look Botan shook her head. "I won't even have to tell him, even Yusuke and Kuwabara have noticed you act strange around him."

Fay gulped, opened her mouth to speak and started coughing as it went down the wrong way. Botan quickly handed her the cup of water. 'Honestly! Girls these days!' Or maybe it was just this one.

Fay put the cup down and cleared her throat. "You…mean you haven't told them anything and they noticed?" she was a bit skeptical on that but Botan confirmed it. "That day at the festival they commented on it. So you better come clean soon."

Fay looked away, the better to hide her panic. "But…but…I was following Nina's plan! It's never failed for her! I was being polite yet aloof."

Botan thought back on that day. "Uhh…when did you start?" she asked.

"From the morning!" Fay exclaimed turning back. Botan sweat dropped. "Are you sure? I just thought you'd dropped the plan."

"What?" Fay looked up at her with teary eyes. "But I was trying so hard,' she hesitated. "Until I fell down."

Botan sat down at the foot of the bed and shook her head. "I don't think that's what being polite yet aloof is supposed to look like. Oh, but you were acting friendly and…err…" Botan decided that the word clumsy could be excused from this conversation.

Fay suddenly snorted in derision, set the empty plate and cup on the tray and crossed her arms. "Remind me to ask for my money back next time I see Nina, this was so not worth my order." She pouted. Now she was going to have to come up with another plan. 'Stupid Nina.' She couldn't have told her that results may vary from person to person?

"Wait a minute,' Fay's thoughts turned in another direction. "Where's Hiei?" she asked looking around as if she could spot him hiding in the room.

"I guess he's still on patrol." Botan decided to give Fay a break and let the subject drop…until she'd hatched a new plan.

Which reminded her… "What was that in the festival?" Botan asked her.

Fay had been trying to concentrate on reaching Hiei through her mind, a trick she knew she really hadn't mastered and had only managed since he'd been the one keeping the connection open, but hey, fools and hopes and all that. Botan's questions snapped her concentration and it took her a second to process the question, when she did Fay frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Botan gestured. "You know, when we were behind the bathrooms and Hiei suddenly showed up ordering you around. Why didn't you tell him to be nicer?" Fay had certainly had no restraints before in telling the boys what she thought…the exception being Kurama, of course.

"Oh that," Fay waved it aside. "He wasn't ordering me around; he was just trying to make me feel better. You were there you should know."

Botan shook her head. "What I heard was him ordering you, and you obeying."

Fay gave her a strange look. "He told me to get up, obviously cause it wasn't the best place to feel sorry for myself, after all the bathrooms were on the other side. Then he told me not to worry about it cause it had been an accident and no big deal."

Botan's smile twitched. "Uhh…well now wait just a minute! I didn't hear any of that! All I heard was him being bossy, not comforting!"

The two girls stared at each other for a moment, as if neither could understand what the other was saying, then Fay's eyes widened and she slapped her forehead. "Right, right. Sorry my fault."

Botan smiled smugly. 'I knew it, I was right.'

"I wasn't speaking your language." Fay added. Botan almost fell of the bed. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Remember the night Mjrn showed up?" Fay asked.

"Yes, what about it?" Botan asked.

"Well, when you asked me about Kurama, I asked you to speak my language cause I really didn't hang out with girls all that much. It's the same thing, just opposite."

Botan could remember Fay saying something like that, but it wasn't like Botan didn't know these guys! She'd been around them long enough.

"Now think about this scenario," Fay began. "Kuwabara's feeling down so he goes off and sits on his own. Yusuke comes along, he wants to help Kuwabara feel better, but do you honestly think he's going to sit down next to him, wrap an arm around Kuwabara's shoulders and tell him that he's there for him and that if he wants to talk about his feelings he's there to listen and console him?"

Botan felt as if she'd eaten something past its expiration date at that certain image. No, she definitely couldn't see Yusuke doing that, actually the thought sent chills down Botan's spine.

"Of course not." Fay continued in an 'I know what I'm talking about' tone of voice. "What he's going to do is go up to Kuwabara, tell him to get up and stop acting like a baby, at which point Kuwabara will say something like 'get lost Yusuke' and Yusuke will of course not listen and shout something like 'start acting like a man' at which point Kuwabara's going to jump to his feet and start shouting at Yusuke who'll do the same. There'll be a fight, they'll get some bruises, Kuwabara will feel better and they'll both stomp off to the arcade or something feeling like men."

Botan sweat dropped trying to keep her smile in place. "Is…is that so…uh…so you're saying that Hiei…did the same thing…without the fighting." Fay nodded; feeling satisfied that Botan had finally got it. "Exactly."

"I see." Botan supposed there was a first time for everything…because right now, she could honestly say that Yusuke had a better chance at understanding this girl...or maybe Hiei.

Her attention jumped back to Fay as she yawned. "You should go back to sleep, after all it wasn't that long ago that you had a fever. I'll be right here if you need me." Botan sat down on the chair next to her bed.

Fay blinked back sleep and spoke. "You don't have to keep watch over me you know-" she stifled a yawn.

"I promised Kurama I would keep an eye on you so I'm not going anywhere." Botan stated firmly.

Fay motioned to the other half of the bed. "Then you can sleep there, I doubt sleeping in that chair is very comfortable." Botan thought about it and stood. Fay was right, she'd started getting a kink in her neck sitting on that chair, how Kurama could have stood sitting there for so long she'd never know. Botan climbed onto the other side of the bed and Fay turned off the lamplight. "Night, Botan." She mumbled sleepily.

"Goodnight, Fay." Botan answered closing her eyes. The two girls were asleep before five minutes were out.

****************

Tonight, the dream didn't visit Fay and for some reason that bothered her. She opened her eyes around two o'clock in the morning and noticed the window curtains blowing in the wind. She would have sat up but he shook his head. "Hiei, nice to see you're still around." She said sleepily.

He smirked. "And you're still alive; apparently your run of luck knows no bounds."

Fay chuckled softly and reached out her hand, after some hesitation he extended his. "Sorry for worrying you, I'll try not to let it happen again."

"Do better then try because next time, you won't be coming back." It sounded like both an order and a warning.

"Yes, sir." She mumbled already falling back asleep. Hiei placed her hand inside the blanket and left, locking the window behind him.

******************

The first thing Fay noticed when she woke next was that the room was bright, this of course could mean it was morning but her internal clock had suffered a few bangs in the last seven days so she opened her eyes and looked at the alarm clock.

"Finally decided to rejoin the living?"

Fay bolted up, her hand slipped from under her and she hit the floor with a thunk, her covers spilling over her.

"Fay!" Yusuke jumped of the bed and knelt beside the struggling girl. "You didn't split your head open did you?" 'Kurama's going to kill me if she did.' He silently added.

"I'm fine and my head's fine. My hand just slipped." She said, her voice muffled by the covers.

"You know, we really have to start seriously thinking about that insurance." He stood and yanked the covers off her, throwing them on the bed. She glared up at him. "If you hadn't surprised me it might not have happened."

Yusuke grinned. "And the word here is might."

She grabbed a pillow as she stood and tossed it at him. They watched as it sailed over his head and landed near the door. He opened his mouth to speak but Fay's glower stopped him. "Not-a-word." She warned.

He sweat dropped. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Right,' she drawled. 'Like I can't see you struggling to hold it in.'

Her door opened and Botan peeked in. "Yusuke what's taking so long- Oh, Fay! I sent Yusuke to wake you up. It's almost ten thirty-"

"What?!" Fay whirled to face Botan. "Why didn't anyone wake me earlier?"

"You were almost killed and you just recovered from a high fever, I think that's enough of an excuse to sleep past ten." Yusuke said.

"That's right." Botan took a step into the room and looked down, a frown on her face. "Why is the pillow on the ground?"

Yusuke snickered and Fay glowered. "No reason, just Yusuke deciding he wanted to know what all the fuzz was about pillow fighting." She said airily turning back to the closet.

"That's not true and you know it!" Yusuke's smirk turned into a glare.

"Ah come on Yusuke, you don't have to be shy." She taunted grinning.

His eye twitched. "Okay that's it! I'm putting you back in that coma- Hey, Botan I'm not done with her yet!" Yusuke protested as Botan herded him out the door.

"Enough with the arguing both of you, Fay needs to get ready and you need to wait outside." She slammed the door on his protests and turned to Fay who was busily looking through her clothes.

Her lips quirked and she suddenly burst into laughter. "Yusuke in a pillow fight!" she said through her laughter. Fay grinned, both girls ignoring the sudden pounding on the door.

"I can hear you, you know!" Yusuke shouted through the wood. When they didn't pay attention he considered breaking down the door, thought better of it and stomped off, muttering something about girls.

Back inside the room Botan gained control of her laughter and turned back to business. "Okay, you have thirty minutes to get ready." Fay grabbed some clothes, nodding. "I'll be ready in fifteen." She'd never taken much longer than that.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing?" Fay turned back to Botan, her tone puzzled. "Going to take a quick shower?"

"No, not that. I mean did you even see what it is that you grabbed from the closet?" Botan pointed at what she'd picked.

Fay looked down at the clothes in her hand. "Well…it's all clothes. As long as it's not pajamas I'm going out in anything will be fine. That's what I used to do at home."

Botan shook her head. "That explains the clothes you were wearing when we met you." She walked over to Fay, taking the clothes from her and putting it back on their hangers. "Those two colors won't complement each other; you have to pick colors carefully."

"Hey! Those were my favorite shirt and pants!" Fay said defensively. Which brought up another question. "What did happen to those clothes?"

"Oh, right…well they were beyond repair with all those holes so I threw them away." Botan said distractedly.

Fay reminded herself to stay calm, just stay calm. So her favorite clothes were gone, she could handle it. After all Botan really did seem to have her best interest at heart but…but… "Even the pants?" she asked in a teary voice.

"Yeah, those had holes at the knees." Botan answered.

"Those were custom holes." Fay sniffed. "I bought them like that. The rest of my friends wore pants like those."

"It's not such a big deal," Botan finally picked out a dress and handed it to Fay, who frowned as she looked at it with some dismay.

The knee length dress was light pink, had bell sleeves, an empire waist, and a flared skirt. It was simple enough she supposed but… "You have noticed its cold outside, right?" she asked.

"That's what this are for." Botan said handing her the same color tights and the rest of her clothes. "Now go on, we don't want to keep the boys waiting."

'Not like I have much of a choice.' Fay thought glumly.

She'd never been one to take long in the shower or getting ready so she was soon out. Had Fay been left to her own devices, she would have quickly brushed her hair and been out the door, but since Botan was there waiting for her, she sat her down in front of the vanity and brushed out her hair, finishing by tying a light pink ribbon on her hair. "Now, don't you look pretty." Botan said cheerfully.

'Now, don't you look smug.' Fay shot Botan a suspicious look. "I'm starting to feel like someone's dress up doll."

"Don't be silly." Botan said as her smile turned cattish. "I'm just trying to make you look nice. After all you want Kurama to notice don't you?"

Fay blushed, ducking her head. "Well…yes but…but even so, I don't think he'd ever see me that way." She startled mumbling so quietly that Botan could hardly hear her so she straightened and headed for the door. "Stay right here, I'll be right back."

Fay nodded, watching as Botan closed the door behind her. 'Where is she going anyway?' And why couldn't Fay just accompany her?

* * *

R&R See you next chapter

_**Next Chapter Preview **_

"_It was her!" _

"_They're just being boys."_

"_To who has found this scroll…"_

"_So…so it really is hopeless."_


	24. Chapter 24: The Oracle

CHAPTER 23: THE ORACLE

Fay waited for five minutes before she got tired of just sitting, not to mention her stomach reminded her she needed to eat something soon. With an impatient huff, she stood up and walked out of her room. 'I thought we were supposed to go see Amalthea at twelve, so shouldn't we be rushing?' She peeked into the living room.

"How are you feeling today, Fay?"

Fay flattened herself back against the corridor wall when his voice reached her. "Ouch!" she cried out as her head banged against the wall, and she brought her hands up to cover the back of her head.

"Fay!" Kurama stepped closer and she quickly straightened, making him take a step back.

"I'm fine, just a little bump," She assured quickly.

"Are you certain? I can take a look if you wish," He offered.

She shook her head quickly. "Nope, I'm fine really, it doesn't even hurt anymore."

'Botan where are you!' she silently cried out.

"If you're sure..."

Fay nodded again.

Busy trying to figure a way to change the conversation, or preferably slip away to find one of the others, she didn't notice his attention had shifted.

"That dress,' Fay looked back at him, her heart pounding as he smiled. "It looks very pretty on you."

She blushed, a small part of her wondering if it was her or someone had suddenly cranked up the heat, while the rest of her was feeling elated at the small compliment.

"Tha…thank you." She finally managed to say barely keeping herself from looking away. "Ac...actually I…umm, this wasn't with the clothes I originally brought and I was wondering…"

Where she could find tape to stop herself from rambling.

"You wonder where it came from," Kurama guessed. She nodded, deciding it was best not to open her mouth.

"The answer is simple enough, Mary Anne stopped by while you were sick. She's the one that brought you the clothes," He explained.

"Oh…okay." She mumbled, then her eyes widened. "It was her!"

Kurama stepped back at her outburst.

"She's the one that told everyone about the Scout Incident!"

"Ah yes," Kurama said thinking back. "She did mention you being kicked out of the Girl Scouts for-"

"It's not what it sounds like!" Fay defended herself. "With the badges, I was framed! That girl was never supposed to tell anyone about them!"

Kurama sweat dropped. 'I…don't believe that's the definition of framing.'

Unknowing of his thoughts, Fay continued. "As for the cookies, animals are furry too!" Her eyes widened at her slip and she clapped her hands over her mouth.

Kurama leaned back against the wall and placed a hand over his mouth, his eyes glittering. He coughed and removed his hand before speaking. "I…see…"

Fay shook her head. "No,' she removed her hands. "No, what I meant to say is that animals need food too, so I decided it was better to give them the cookies. Besides, it was the teacher's fault. She'd just read us the week before 'If you give a Squirrel a Cookie' and I was kinda hoping at some point the squirrels would bust out dancing to the theme song of Ghostbusters." She finished feeling embarrassed.

He coughed a growing grin on his face he couldn't seem to control, then burst into laughter.

He had a warm soft laugh that stirred the butterflies in her stomach, made her heart beat even faster, and she would have audibly sighted over, if she hadn't caught herself in time.

'He's…laughing, I made him laugh.' Sure, he was laughing at her but who cared! She'd still made him laugh! Fay had a few precious seconds to bask in that laugher before other, less pleasant and more raucous laughter shattered her bubble of happiness.

Yusuke was the first revealed as he slipped from behind the open door leading to the dining room, and onto the living room carpet. Kuwabara followed next falling atop Yusuke, then Botan who landed sitting on the two boys. Hiei simply walked around them, shooting her an amused smirk.

"Hey!" she turned on them glowering. "No one gave you guys' permission to eavesdrop, much less laugh over that!"

"Ah, come on. I'll give you some cookies and we can go to the park," Yusuke said through his laughter.

"Yeah, maybe we can buy them little costumes and a cookie jar," Kuwabara added.

"Don't mind them,' Botan said trying to hold back her laughter. "They're just being boys."

Fay's eye twitched. "You want cookies, I'll give you cookies!" she threatened.

The trio scrambled to their feet, Yusuke running as she took off after him. "Why don't you go after Kuwabara, he's the one with the squirrel costumes!"

"You're on my list first, you little punk!" Fay reached for his shirt and missed.

Yusuke laughed and jumped over the sofa, landing on the other side and headed for the dining room. Fay attempted the same thing, half accomplished it and fell. A hand wrapped around her waist was all that saved her from knocking her chin on the coffee table.

"Care to stop now, or should we wait until you've cracked your skull?" Hiei asked.

She crossed her arms and tried really hard not to pout. "Fine, I'll stop now." That didn't mean she had to stop glaring at Yusuke and Kuwabara. If she practiced enough she could probably pull of a Hiei glare.

Her stomach, deciding she hadn't been embarrassed enough, took the split second of silence to growl, making Yusuke and Kuwabara's laughter break free again.

"I'd get you a cookie but you might feed it to Hiei," Yusuke laughed.

This time it was Hiei who glared. "Are you trying to imply something, Detective?"

"Okay, I think that's enough laughing." Back in control of herself, Botan helped Fay to her feet and herded her to the dining room. "We'll just get something for Fay to eat and be right on our way."

"I'm not done with you yet!" Fay waved a fist at Yusuke before Botan dragged her into the dining room.

***************

The group arrived at the gardens' event hall at exactly noon and was welcomed by the twins, Chun and Chen. "We are pleased to see you well, Miss. Fay." Chen said bowing to her.

"I was told that it was you and your sister who healed me, so thank you very much." Fay returned the bow.

"You are welcome. Please all of you follow us. The Oracle awaits you." The two turned as one and led them down a large corridor.

Now that they were here Fay was feeling just a little nervous. What if it was bad news about the crest? A dozen scenarios played in her head, each one worse than the other.

"Try to relax."

Fay turned her gaze to Kurama who walked on her left. He smiled in reassurance. "Whatever it may be, I am certain it will not be impossible to overcome once we know the circumstances."

"Besides,' walking on her other side, Yusuke spoke up. "According to Mary Anne those pieces are supposed to be indestructible."

Fay looked at the piece hanging from the chain around her neck. 'I hope they're right.' She mentally shook her head. 'No, they're right; I have to believe in that.'

The group entered a dining room with a large window overlooking a lake. At a long table in the center of the room stood Amalthea. She smiled in welcome. "It is nice to see all of you once more, Fay; I am glad that you have finally recovered." She gestured. "Please, take a seat." Amalthea waited until the group was seated before she spoke.

"Now, I believe the question of the crest has been put off long enough. Kurama, may I see the scroll?"

"Of course." Kurama fished the small scroll from his pocket and passed it to Amalthea who spoke words in an ancient language, passing a hand over the scroll. The scroll grew in size until she had to hold it with both hands.

'Wow, that's a neat trick.' Kuwabara thought. He'd still stick with his spirit powers, but he could definitely see that coming in handy.

Fay tried not to fidget in her chair as Amalthea opened the scroll and silently went over the words.

"Well? Can you tell us what it says?" Hiei asked impatiently.

Amalthea nodded. "The words written here are as followed: To who has found this scroll, know that your quest is for naught. I have crafted many mirrors of the crest halves, and if you have one that is real, it shall not matter. Your half shall warm when close to a mirror half, and thus you shall never know its truth. If yet you believe that your quest is true, then I give you this; to each half I have made five mirrors. All scattered across the worlds, if you in time manage to reach their truth, I hope that your wish shall not be as selfish as mine."

Fay grasped the crest resting on her chest. 'Five for every…that could take forever!' She didn't have forever. "So…so it really is hopeless." She whispered into the silence, her tone laden with frustration and disappointment.

A hand clamped on her head and she looked up at Yusuke. "How many times do I have to tell you not to say stupid stuff? We already promised to help you find them; this just means we have to try and smash them."

She shook her head. "I can't expect you guys to help me look for such a long time, not to mention that- Yusuke!" She finished in a protest as his hand pushed down on her head. 'Okay that's it!' She'd beat him up and then make him listen!

"And no one's asking you what you think! We're the ones who decided to help, it's our decision not yours!"

"Yusuke is correct," She turned to Kurama; shot Yusuke a glare and after returning the glare, he removed his hand from her head. "It is our decision to help; besides not all is always as it appears at first glance." Kurama turned to Amalthea. "There must be another way to tell besides having to hunt them all down."

Amalthea smiled and nodded. "Yes, in fact there is. As good as the mirrors are they are merely that, mirrors, copies of the original and imperfect." She gestured and suddenly Fay's half of the crest was in her hand.

Amalthea held it from the chain, the piece dangling. "Someone…experienced will always be able to tell the difference between real and fake. The edges will differ in minuscule detail and so will the color. Not only that, there is a…feeling to the real pieces. Each one emanates the power that it holds within, much like Fay does to those who can sense it." Amalthea turned to Fay who looked taken aback.

"What…you're saying I'm some kind of spotlight now?"

"I have a strong sixth sense and I can't sense anything," Kuwabara said studying Fay.

A little surprised, Amalthea studied Kuwabara. "Are you…certain you cannot sense it? Did not all of you sense it the moment you met her?" she asked turning to the others.

"She does give off a vive," Yusuke turned to look at her. "Kind of like…uhh…"

"A light, from far away," Kurama volunteered.

"Yeah something like that but you get used to it," Yusuke shrugged it away.

"If Yusuke can sense it then how come I can't?" Kuwabara wanted to know. "I'm more sensitive to this stuff than anyone else. Remember I'm the only one who sensed Mjrn's music."

"I can't sense it either," Botan piped up half raising her hand.

Amalthea frowned, looking from the Botan to Kuwabara. "Didn't you see the light?" Botan shook her head. "Uhh…no." Kuwabara admitted reluctantly.

"I remember going over this once," Hiei smirked at Kuwabara. "You're not-"

"Say that one more time and see if I don't knock you down a few more inches, shrimp!" Kuwabara threatened.

"Ha! Like you could ever defeat me," Hiei shot back.

"Enough you two," Fay snapped her fingers in their direction. She'd also like know why everyone was talking as if she wasn't sitting right there, but she wasn't making a big deal out of it.

Kuwabara turned to her. "Okay, so why didn't I see that light?" he demanded.

"Yes, I'd like to know that too," Botan added leaning closer to her, though unlike Kuwabara she simply sounded curious.

Panicked, Fay looked from one to the other. "I don't know!" she finally exclaimed. "A bunch of weird stuff had just started happening to me. No one gave me a list of people to include in the sighting!" Actually she didn't think she'd been in charge at that particular time…or she had but…she hadn't. Mentally she shook her head. She was not going down that road.

"How…interesting," Amalthea whispered to herself. "It is nothing to be worried over, you two." She spoke in a louder voice. "And we are straying from the conversation." She jingled the chain. "The point is that there is a power emanating from this crest piece that the fakes could never replicate. Even if you were to see an image of the true one, an experienced person could tell the difference."

"And where exactly are we supposed to find someone like that?" Fay asked.

Kurama coughed. "I...have had some experience in that field."

Fay turned to him in surprise. "You do?"

He nodded. "Yes it was a…past hobby you might say."

"And I can use my Jagan eye to identify the real from the fake." Hiei added.

Fay turned to Hiei, frowned and leaned across Yusuke, trying to get a better look at Hiei's eyes.

"I'm right here, you know," Yusuke complained.

Fay ignored him. "What do you mean Jagan eye? Is there something special about one of your eyes?"

He glared. "No, I'm talking about my third eye."

Fay pursed her lips, her gaze skeptical. "Did you hit your head?" She was about to place a hand on his forehead when it glowed through the white bandanna. She jerked back, her eyes wide.

"The Jagan eye is found on his forehead, as you have seen, and only opens when he wishes it." Kurama explained. "It is one of the reasons he wears that headband. However it is nothing to be afraid off," He assured. Kurama was getting the feeling that her reaction had been expected by Hiei but not appreciated.

Hiei turned away, his gaze scornful. "Yes, nothing for you to be afraid off," He added in that same tone.

"Hey, I'm still sitting here!" Yusuke complained loudly as Fay scrambled over him to get to Hiei.

"That sounds awesome! Can you do other stuff with it? How bout looking through walls, can you do that? What about heat vision? Come on let's see it, the public wants to know!"

Looking momentarily perplexed, Hiei scooted back in his chair as she closed in, reaching for his bandanna. Fay didn't come close; he was suddenly halfway across the room.

"My eye isn't a toy to be displayed at your whim." He glared across at her.

"I'm not saying it is," Fay said. "I'm just saying that since apparently everyone else has seen it I should get to see it too."

"No," He replied.

"Ah, come on Hiei. At least tell me what color it is."

Hiei shot her a smug smile. "No," Ignoring her protests he turned to Amalthea. "Are we done here?"

The Oracle smiled in amusement and nodded. "Yes, that is all the information I have for you at the moment."

Hiei turned to the others. "Then I suggest we keep looking for the other halves while we still have time."

Kurama stood. "Hiei's right, with fakes to deal with; it will take us longer to find the real one."

Yusuke stretched and stood. "Fine, just remember that I can't go into that museum anymore."

"Yeah me neither," Kuwabara grumbled standing. He was not done with his argument but for the moment he'd let it drop.

"Thank you for all the information," Botan bowed to Amalthea as she stood. "I'll pass it on to Koenma; he'll want to know about this."

"Yes, please do," Amalthea stood as well and walked over to Fay who was unsuccessfully trying to get closer to Hiei. At the oracle's approach the girl straightened.

"Here," Amalthea said.

Fay took the light blue purse she was handed. "Umm…thank you?"

Amalthea chuckled. "This purse contains items you will need later on. The Wizards have also set up something for you, as long as there is a bank, the card will work."

Still feeling puzzled, Fay opened it and looked inside. 'Why would I need this, it's not like I'm going out of the country.' More like another world but so far she hadn't had to pass through an inter-dimensional airport. As for the card…Fay could think of a few people who'd kill to get their hands on a magic credit card. 'Guess I'll hold on to it.' It would definitely come in handy. "Thank the Wizards for me." She said looking up at Amalthea.

"I will," Amalthea leaned down and settled the chain that held the crest around Fay's throat, then turned to the rest of the group. "I don't believe I have to say it, but please look after her. Oh,' she turned back to Fay. "And I know you have been told this by your friends but you are down to one life little kitten. Do not tempt fate, for she often proves to be a harsh mistress."

"I know, I've already promised not to be stupid again." She pointed at Yusuke over her shoulder.

"Then there is one more thing I must add; do not tire yourself out, I can already feel your weariness from here. Your body has gone through quite a trial; it will need some time to fully recover," Amalthea cautioned her.

"What? You're tired, Fay? Why didn't you tell us?" Botan was at her side, frowning as she checked Fay's temperature and compared it to hers.

"I'm fine; it's not a big deal." Fay protested. The last thing she needed was to be coddled like a little kid.

"If an oracle says you need rest, you're gonna get rest even if I have to stuff it down your throat," Yusuke threatened.

"Who are you talking to, me or a hospital patient?" She shot back.

"Is there a difference?" he smirked.

"You must rest, it is imperative that you regain your strength before another confrontation with the factions." Kurama stepped in before the argument could escalate.

Fay looked away nodding meekly. "Umm…okay, I guess."

'So what am I, chopped liver?' Yusuke silently groused. Fay always seemed to listen more to Kurama or Hiei than him, at least not without an argument. Then she went and got all weird with Kurama. He looked from one to the other. Yeah he was definitely missing something here, and he knew just the person to get it out of, at some point in the future.

"Kurama," The red head stopped and turned back to Amalthea as the others proceeded down the corridor. "Yes?"

"Even I posses a shadow, remember that in the future." The Oracle warned.

He looked puzzled but nodded. "I will thank you." He turned and hurried after his friends.

"Did you see something Grandmother?" Chun placed a cup of warm tea on the table and took a seat soon followed by Chen.

"For a second I did, but the mist shrouds the path they walk. I can see very little." Amalthea turned and walked back to join her great daughters at the table.

"Then we must trust that they walk carefully. What is it that you saw concerning Kurama?" Chen asked.

Amalthea shook her head and raised the teacup to her lips. "I cannot say in all certainty, I simply knew that the warning must be given." She drank the warm tea and leaned back on her chair. "I just hope the little information I gave them was enough."

*************

"Okay, we should go our separate ways here," Botan said once they were halfway home. "Yusuke, Kuwabara and I will keep looking at the places we didn't go to last time. Hiei, Kurama, take Fay home and make sure she rests."

Fay contemplated arguing but she didn't see the point, she'd been trying since they'd left the hall.

"Agreed," Kurama turned to Fay. "Shall we go?"

She nodded then turned as Hiei spoke. "You take her back. Without you there I'm the only one who'll be able to tell." Without waiting for the trio he left.

'There he goes,' Botan thought, though this actually worked for her. She'd just cooked up a new plan and so far it was going great.

"I'll search the internet while Fay rests," Kurama said. "Amalthea said that even if it is an image I may be able to tell the difference. It is worth giving it a try."

"Good idea, Kurama," Yusuke said hands behind his head. "We'll leave you to that while we go look at more old stuff," He turned to Botan and Kuwabara. "You guys ready?"

They both nodded. "Yes, let's go." Botan followed after the two teens then turned back around. "We'll leave her to you, Kurama. If anything happens contact us right away."

"I will," He responded. Botan gave Fay a chipper smile and moved to catch up with Yusuke and Kuwabara.

Kurama turned to Fay. "Ready?"

Fay nodded, trying not to feel as if she needed to bolt…right now. 'You can do this, Fay,' She thought. 'Don't stutter, don't trip, and don't put your foot in your mouth. Just stay calm.' Easier said than done but she managed it until the silence started getting to her. She'd never been one for this kind of silences; they made her feel like screaming or saying something really stupid. Since she really didn't want to go down that road again, she needed to find something safe to ask him about. 'Oh, I know!'

"Umm…"

Kurama had been trying to think of a way to start a conversation that would make her forget her wariness of him, the fact that she spoke up first surprised him. "Yes?" he asked turning to her.

She hesitated before finally speaking. "The other day, Kuwabara said that he had a sister…I…umm…I was just wondering, do you have siblings, Kurama?"

He shook his head. "No, I am an only child."

"Oh," She said. 'Great, that conversation's out the window.' Why couldn't she think of something better to say?

"You mentioned two brothers and at least two sisters by name. Are you the youngest of them?" he asked.

Fay would much rather learn about him, but since it would keep the silence at bay and it was him asking… "Well I am one of the youngest, but not of four. In the lineup I'm the seventh." At his startled look she continued. "Twins run in both my families, go figure; except for my eldest sister and myself, all my siblings have twins. Noemi and Rhea, Ryan and Duncan, Isabel and Aldric, and there's my younger siblings; Michelle and Emanuel."

"You have a very large family then."

'You have no idea,' She thought wryly.

Kurama couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to belong to such a large family. "You must miss them."

"Yes, but I know that they're safer without me there." It was starting to make her homesick, something she'd been trying not to think about from the very beginning.

"I'm sorry; I did not mean to make you feel bad." Kurama apologized.

Fay shook her head. "No it's okay. It's not like I can avoid thinking about them forever, and I wouldn't want too." They were her family after all, as annoying as they many, many times were.

They soon arrived home and while Fay went to change, Kurama headed into the kitchen.

Fay changed into a simple (she counted her stars at least there were some) white shift dress printed with green leaves and walked about her room debating what to do next. She could stay in here, but she really wanted to spend time with Kurama.

How was she ever going to get over her dumb need to suddenly bolt whenever he got close to her if she didn't spend time with him! And then there was the fact that she just really, really wanted to be near him…even if she did suddenly start acting like a goose.

'Okay, Fay you can do this! You can't think that it's hard or it will be. After all I've seen Rhea do it all the time. Guys flock to her. They don't exactly flock to Nina and Madeline but you've been forced to tag along on their dates as security.' Sure the first chance she got she'd be out of there faster than a speeding bullet but…but her sisters had still made her sit through dinner with their boyfriends. Okay so none of that really did her any good since it had all turned to quacking after the first three seconds.

"Fay?"

She stopped pacing about and turned to the door when he knocked. "Come in," she answered.

The door opened, Kurama walking in holding a tray. "Here, this tea should help with your recovery."

"Oh…umm…thanks." Fay took the tea tray and set it on the table next to her bed.

"I will be in the living room if you need me," He said turning to leave.

"Kurama."

He turned back to her. "Yes? Is there something else you needed?"

She bit her lip, wondering why she'd even called his name. For a second there she'd almost felt like she could tell him but…on second thought, nope, she'd just realized she was a huge coward when it came to this. So she shook her head. "No, never mind."

After a few moments of silence he spoke. "I see, then if you'll excuse me."

The door closed behind him leaving Fay standing stock still as the minutes passed, then she fell to her knees her arms wrapped about her stomach. 'I'm falling in love with you, and I don't know how to stop it.' Stupidly it was beginning to hurt. Something wet plopped onto her knee making her realize she was crying. 'Stupid tears.' She stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to be caught crying. Fay sat on the bed and picked up the cup. There didn't seem to be much she could do, so she'd drink the tea and go to sleep. She almost hoped the dream would visit her this time.

**************

Kurama reached the living room and collapsed on to the sofa. 'I should have said something.' Had this not been what he'd been waiting for, an opportunity to speak to her alone? Yet the thought of her rejecting him…it was unwanted, to say the least. He could still tell her, all it would take was walking back to her door and knocking. Minutes passed and his body refused to move. Finally he stood up and entered the dining room, where he had left his laptop. His only excuse was that it did not feel like the right time.

_**Next Chapter Preview**_

_"Don't get your hopes up high."_

_"For your return home, Yusuke."_

_"...there is one little bird that I would take very good care of."_

_"Dementium does give the flesh such a lovely taste."_


	25. Chapter 25: Preparations

CHAPTER 24: PREPARATIONS

Hiei arrived not long after Kurama made his discovery and while the two discussed it, Yusuke, Botan, and Kuwabara arrived joining them in the dining room.

"Any luck?" Yusuke asked as they entered the dining room. "Cause we got nothing." Though at least they hadn't been attacked by any faction members.

"Yes, actually," Kurama answered. That perked up the group's interest and they closed around him as he turned to the screen. "A false piece resides in a museum in Australia. It is of the same design as the one you found Yusuke."

"So does that mean there are three more in this world?" Yusuke asked.

"I cannot say for certain,' Kurama answered. "However I can tell you that I have found the real piece."

"You did?" the trio asked at the same time. "Well don't leave us in suspense, show us." Botan said in anticipation.

"Don't get your hopes up." Hiei warned them as Kurama brought up another window on the screen. "The real one was stolen a week ago from the Museum it was kept in."

"What? Are you sure?" Yusuke asked turning to Kurama.

Kurama nodded in affirmative. "I'm afraid so."

The window he'd pulled up showed a picture of the crest being displayed before its robbery while another showed a close up of the, now missing, piece.

"Wait a minute…I know that place." Sure he'd never actually gone into it but now and then he'd passed by it.

"It's that Museum," Kuwabara added. "I think it's about a ten minute ride on the train from my neighborhood."

"Oh!" Botan smiled excitedly. "If that's the last place the crest was seen, it means we all get to go home!" This would be great! She could finally introduce Fay to Keiko, Shizuru, and Yukina. 'I just know they'll get along great.'

"Alright! It's about time!" Kuwabara exclaimed, exited as well. "It's been way too long since I've seen Yukina, oh yeah and Shizuru." He added as an afterthought.

'Finally,' Yusuke added to himself. This trip had been fun and all but he was looking forward to going home. Not that he'd tell that to anyone.

"Excuse me; I've just got to tell Fay." Botan turned to go.

"Wait."

Halting, Botan turned back to Kurama. "She's still sleeping."

"Oh, when did she go to sleep?" She asked.

"Not long after we arrived." Kurama answered.

'Wait a minute…that means they didn't spend any time together!' Botan sighted inwardly. 'There goes another plan.'

"And she hasn't woken up?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, she has not. I did give her something to help her sleep, however that should have worn off a couple of hours ago; the fact that she still rests means that she still has much recovering do to."

"Guess we should let her sleep then." Yusuke said. 'And that explains the lack of faction members. Amalthea said they wouldn't attack while Fay was still weak.' It also proved that Fay had been lying about being recovered.

"I guess in that case I'll contact Koenma." Botan took out the small communicator and moved to the living room.

Koenma's face soon popped into view. "What has been taking you so long!" he demanded.

"Well, a lot of stuff's been happening," Botan tried to pacify him.

"That is no excuse! But as it so happens you've been saved from spankings by Amalthea. She contacted me a couple hours ago and advised me to start making preparations for the group's return home."

"What?" Botan asked startled. "How could she have known when we just found about it ourselves?"

"She's an Oracle," Koenma said in a 'that should be obvious' tone. "She did say that she couldn't see that far ahead when it comes to all of you but that now and then the mist would part and she has glimpses. It's nothing definitive, but she did advice me to prepare for this."

"Prepare for what?" Yusuke asked as he walked into the living room.

"For your return home, Yusuke," Koenma answered.

"So you told him about the crest?" Yusuke asked Botan.

She shook her head. "No, he just said that Amalthea advised him to prepare for this situation."

"Wait a minute!" Koenma recalled their attention. "She didn't say anything about the crest! Did you find out where it is?" Botan explained while Koenma listened with a worried expression on his face. "Well let's just hope that whoever stole it, stole it for the money it would bring and not for the wish."

"We hadn't thought of that." Botan said worried.

"There's no use in worrying about it right now." Yusuke said. "We've got enough problems as it is. If whoever stole it is after the rest of the pieces they'll come to us and we can beat them up then."

"I suppose that's one way of putting it," Koenma answered. "As for your return home; I've already had the preparations taken care of. All you need to do is pack up and this time, be on time for your flight. Botan I expect you here soon to pick up those tickets."

"I'll leave as soon as we're done talking," She assured.

"Good, then that'll be all for now. Yusuke keep on your guard, you never know when someone might come knocking."

"Thanks for the warning pacifier breath. I'll keep it in mind."

Soon after, Botan cut off the communication and turned to Yusuke. "You let the others know, I'll be back as soon as I have the tickets." She ran to the balcony and slid the door open while Yusuke turned to go back into the dining room.

*************

The girl looked about eight years old; she wore a long black dress and her silver hair hung down past her knees. There was a black diadem perched on her head and two ivory horns protruding from the sides. They curled down her back in the form of an S. Four silver bat wings sat on her back while violet eyes rested on the cage before her. Her hands featured long white ivory nails that she now and then tapped against the bars of the cage.

The large room she stood in was dark and almost bare but for the many different sized cages and the crimson fainting couch a few feet behind her. On the couch sat a lone figure, his long white hair was braided and fell down his back, over the four silver wings. His golden eyes glittered in the darkness and two large black serpents hung like a necklace about his neck. Like the child, he also had horns, though his were much larger and longer.

Before a large window near them stood a female figure, both gloved hands resting on the hilt of a long sword placed before her. Her hair was shoulder length and black, like the smaller horns on her head and the eyes that seemed to swallow any light that dared to enter them. She wore a black suit under which armor hid, and two brown horned wings rested behind her back.

"Brother," The young girl spoke into the darkness.

"Is something wrong, Emma?" the child's brother asked.

She nodded her eyes on the colorful cowering bird inside the cage. "I grow tired of this bird, it does not wish to play with me nor does it sing like it's supposed too." Her small hands tightened on the bars. "I do not like it." The bird gave a shrill chirp and began to struggle, as if it had been caught in someone's grasp.

"Let it be sister, you know the birds of this world are different from those of ours. They may be nice to look at, but they are as fragile as snowflakes."

The girl's eyelids fell to half mast, looking as if she were becoming sleepy. "Yes, they are no fun at all." The bird's chirp intensified, sounding as if it were now in pain. "All life in this planet is so very fragile, but we know that there is one little bird that I would take very good care of. No matter how very fragile she is. That birdie would play with me, wouldn't she brother?" Her tone sounded earnest, yet her expression was still that of a sleepy child, and the bird continued its rising shriek.

On the couch, her brother smiled, caressing one of the snakes as it hissed. "Yes, that birdie would play with you."

The girl suddenly giggled, her expression lightening, making her seem as nothing but the child she appeared to be.

Emma turned to her brother, hands clasped before her. "Then may I please have her? I promise to take very good care of her! I shall never tire of that birdie!"

The man rose from the couch towering over the little girl. "It will not be easy gaining a hold of that birdie. She resides in a most dangerous jungle."

Emma pouted. "Who cares! I have had birds delivered from the Amazon! This can't be that much different!"

Her brother gestured at the cages, empty but for colorful scattered feathers blotched with dried blood. "Those birds were not simple to get a hold of, yet where are they now?"

Emma dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "They were useless; all you had to pay was human money, not Orinati stones from our world."

Gaze still on the cages, he spoke. "I already told you that the human money is different from that of our world…and yes, it does lack the beauty of our stones."

"The birdie, will you have to pay in Orinati stones?" Voice hopeful, Emma looked up at her brother.

He shook his head and turned back to her. "No, I don't believe even our stones will gain us that bird."

Emma sighted contently. "Then my new birdie is priceless." She giggled twirling about in happy circles. "I shall have the best treasure in all the worlds, and once I have her we can go home and no one will stop me from taking the throne, will they brother?"

Tone pensive he responded, his gaze once more on the cages. "No."

Emma giggled, dancing about as if the shrieking of the bird was her music. "I cannot wait for my new birdie to arrive. All this cages must be taken out and we shall make a new one. It must be beautiful and made out of dementium steel, nothing else will do." She stopped dancing, looking as one now involved in a daydream. "It shall all be so much,' her violet eyes glittered dangerously; her fanged grin turned dark, "Fun." Her right hand curled into a fist and the bird uttered one last shriek before the little body fell to the cage floor with a thud.

Her brother sighted and walked over to the cage. Opening the door, he let one of the snakes slide in. "You killed another one." He informed Emma.

With a startled look, Emma turned to the cage. "Oh, well that bird did not really matter…but brother; perhaps we should give it a proper burial instead of you letting Kitara eat it."

He calmly glanced over at her. "We did that once with the dog. You ended up waking up in the middle of the night and digging it out, playing with its carcass as if it were some kind of marionette."

Her giggle this time was tinged with madness. "Did I? I cannot remember." She shook her head. "I am tired of this talk; please say you will get me my new birdie soon, brother." Emma pleaded.

"I will do my best to bring her in soon, but you must have patience. After all this birdie is priceless."

Emma smiled and sauntered out of the room followed by the woman.

The second snake hissed in amusement as it slid gently about his neck. "Dementium does give the flesh such a lovely taste." The snake spoke slowly, the words punctured by hissing.

"That bird will not end up in your stomach Kimo." He warned, reaching out an arm so that Kitara could climb back up onto his shoulders.

"It will not matter." Kitara hissed, flicking the end of her tail at her brother. "Her fear will be a buffet of itself." The two snakes hissed out a laugh. "Let us go, Attor. There are preparations to be made."

Attor nodded and closing the cage door, turned and walked across the room, the large doors silently closing behind him.

* * *

'I guess I am going out of the country after all.' Fay thought. Although she'd woken early today, she'd been told that she'd slept through most of yesterday by Hiei. After which Yusuke had loudly scolded her for lying about being tired. Soon after Kurama had stepped in and informed her about the crest and the situation.

'That's the last of it,' Fay closed the suitcase. Not that she'd had all that much in things to pack, mainly her clothes and shoes. Her skates, she'd been happy to note, were still in the backpack that she'd arrived with.

There was a knock on the door as it opened. "You done in there?" Yusuke asked.

"Yup, I'm ready, though we still have sometime before we actually have to leave."

"Yeah...I need a favor." He said leaning against the wall.

"From me?" Fay pointed at herself. She couldn't think about any favors she could do for him, except cooking, but she'd already taken care of breakfast an hour ago.

"Well, you're a girl," He said.

'Nice of you to notice.' Fay thought wryly. "Okaay."

"So you know how to buy stuff for girls, right? I mean stuff they'd actually like. I'd ask Botan, but Keiko knows her taste too well. She'd know it was Botan who picked it out and not me."

Fay frowned. "Sooo…you want me to help you buy a present for your girlfriend?"

She could tell that he had to struggle not to glare. "Something like that."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Urameshi." Kuwabara barged in, looking from Fay to Yusuke. "I mean remember the stuff she was wearing when we met her? And the stuff Zadkiel and Mary Anne told us about her? I don't think her taste and Keiko's run in the same dire- hey watch it!" he ducked as Fay threw a bear at him, so of course, it hit him right in the face.

Yusuke laughed. "Better start learning not to duck when Fay throws something."

"That's not funny!" She fumed, "And I can to pick out girl stuff! My taste may be different from most girls but I have four sisters and two best friends whose idea of a good time is dragging me to the mall and exclaiming over dresses and accessories!" It gave her nightmares, but she knew how to do it.

Kuwabara still looked unconvinced. "You sure? I know you wear dresses and stuff…never mind, I'm leaving!" Finally noticing her growing irritation, Kuwabara hightailed it back to his room.

"What does he think I am? A frog!" she snapped. Yusuke couldn't help the laughter. He didn't really get the whole frog thing but he could definitely picture it…more importantly… He sobered. "Well it's not like I have much of a choice, so mind helping me pick something out?"

"If that's your idea of a persuasive speech, let's hope you never have to talk for your life." She snapped.

"And what is that supposed to mean!?" He snapped back.

"Figure it out yourself, genius!" The two glared, until someone stepped in.

"Fay means that she hopes you never have to convince someone to let you live, Yusuke." Kurama turned to smile at her and she half forgot what she'd been arguing about so Fay just nodded, trying not to act like an airhead. "What Kurama said."

Yusuke scoffed. "Why would I want to talk to them if I could just beat them up?"

"Right, because everything in life is that straightforward." Fay said drolly.

"Okay, what's with the tone? And if you wanna say something say it straight out so the rest of us know what you mean!"

Fay smiled and patted him on the head, she head to go on her toes and reach but she managed. His eye twitched in irritation.

"The point is that it's no fun if I give you all the answers, you have to figure some out yourself, Yusuke."

'Why I oughta…' Yusuke turned as Kurama coughed the sound remarkably similar to a laugh.

"You know what she's talking about, right?" Yusuke asked of the read head.

Kurama glanced away. "Perhaps, but it will do you some good to try and figure it out yourself, Yusuke."

"Thanks a lot for the help, Kurama!" Yusuke yelled as they left the room. He suddenly remembered why he'd come in, in the first place and started after them. "Hey, Fay we're not done talking yet."

"Don't worry I'll help you out,Yusuke." She said over her shoulder.

"Help with what?" Kurama asked her.

"He wants me to help him pick out something for Keiko."

"Then perhaps we should leave now, although we still have some time before we must depart for the airport it is limited." Kurama said.

"Wait! I'm coming too." Kuwabara opened his room door and walked out. "I haven't gotten anything for Shizuru either or Yukina for that matter so," he turned to Fay with a grin and a thumps up. "I'll be counting on your help."

Fay bristled glaring up at him. "Oh, and what happened with my taste not being good enough!"

He laughed it off. "Oh, come on. You still mad about that?"

'Why you big…' Fay was tempted to kick him but she reminded herself that that would probably give Kurama an even worse impression of her. So she silently fumed. "Fine but you owe me one," She muttered.

"Thank you!" Kuwabara grinned.

"Is anyone here talking about a quick shopping trip?" Botan peeked out of her room.

"Yeah but it's gonna be quick so don't expect us to wait around all day," Yusuke warned her.

"Don't be silly, Yusuke. I just need to pick out a few things, nothing that will take long." She assured him.

He looked unconvinced but didn't say anything.

"What are all of you mumbling about over there?" Hiei stepped into the corridor looking from one person to the other.

"Hiei! Just the person I wanted to see." Fay greeted cheerfully and skipped over to him. His eyes narrowed, a suspicious look coming into them. "And what do you want?"

Fay smiled down at him, making him suspect what she was after.

"So, can I see it now?" she asked.

'Though as much.' "No." he answered out loud.

"Ah, come on Hiei." She pleaded her eyes growing large.

He turned away, "I already told you it's not something to be displayed at your whim, so drop it."

"We were discussing heading to the mall, care to join us Hiei?" Kurama answered Hiei's earlier question, deviating Fay's attention from Hiei back to Kurama.

"And why would we want to go back to that infernal place?" Hiei asked in irritation.

"Because some people need to make a quick shopping trip there," Botan answered smiling.

"Yusuke and Kuwabara need to take care of presents too." Fay added following after Botan as she made her way to the door.

He turned his stare on Yusuke and Kuwabara. "I thought you took care of this problem eight days ago."

"Don't you remember," Yusuke asked as he passed Hiei. "I gave them to Fay."

"You can have them back at any time." She interrupted, which Yusuke ignored. "So I need to buy something quickly."

"No one will make you come along, Hiei." Kurama picked up his jacket from the coat rack. "If you wish to stay here we will not stop you."

"Yeah, shorty. We'll take care of any bad guys that come after Fay," Kuwabara said smugly.

"Ha! Like you did last time? Whenever I happened to have you in my sight you were running. I doubt that's going to do anyone much good," Hiei retorted.

"Hey! That was all part of my plan! I took down that guy in the end anyway."

"You mean her," Yusuke said.

Kuwabara turned to glare at Yusuke. "I refuse to believe that was a girl! Maybe a cross dresser and not a very good one, but definitely not a girl!"

"I'm with Yusuke on this," Hiei smirked. "Windros was a girl or didn't you hear _her_ voice?"

Kuwabara turned to Kurama and Botan. "You heard Windros, that guy just had a squeaky voice, right?"

Kurama glanced away. "I'm afraid I was preoccupied with more pressing matters at the time…however the elemental did sound female."

'No…no way!' Kuwabara stepped back in shock. If Kurama thought it was a girl…then maybe…maybe it had been! In a last ditch effort he turned to Botan.

"I'm going to have to go with girl."

His legs seemed to fail him and Kuwabara sat heavily on the ground, legs crossed. "So…I…I really hurt a girl?" His code! He'd broken his own code!

"Ah, come on Kuwabara. It's no big deal." Yusuke tried to cheer his friend up. "She was trying to kill us. If you hadn't brought her down Isis might have had time to release another one of her seals."

"You don't get it Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouted up at him. "Even if she was trying to kill us, she was still a girl-"

"Who almost tore you to pieces and hurt Kurama," Yusuke pointed out.

"That's not the point," Kuwabara muttered looking down. A rustle had him looking at Fay who'd crouched down in front of him, smiling.

"What, you gonna make fun of me too?" he muttered shooting her a resentful look.

"I hate to contradict the majority, especially when Ku...umm…they all think they're right, but the Wizards did give me some pointers on Elementals."

Looking hopeful, Kuwabara turned his attention to her. "Okay, go on."

"Elementals like the ones you guys fought do not originally come in female, male forms. When they are called to materialize, they chose a form that is recognizable in the human world, thus they gain a gender. Although I have heard that most guardian elementals prefer male forms, I guess there are the exceptions, especially when dealing with earth elementals," She finished.

Kuwabara grinned, jumping to his feet. "See, I was right, Windros wasn't a girl!" he laughed turning to Fay he wrapped an arm about her and picked her up. "Fay's the one that knows about this stuff so we should listen to her."

"Yes, and you should also consider letting her go."

Kuwabara froze at Kurama's tone of voice. "Errr…something wrong Kurama?" He followed Kurama's gaze to Fay.

"Ah! Sorry," He set her on her feet as she gasped for air.

"It's fine; just remember next time that I'm not Yusuke." Fay said wryly as she caught her breath before straightening. "Okay, let's go."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Tone worried, Kurama stepped closer to her.

"I'll be fine as long as no one else decides to lock me in a strangle hold." She answered forcing herself not to take a step away.

"You're not lying again are you?" Yusuke asked. "Remember, next time I get to yell at you for an hour straight."

"You can have Hiei read my mind if you want," she answered airily. "I'm fine, maybe not one hundred percent but I'm getting there."

"And on that note, we should start moving," Botan said cheerfully. "Remember we don't want to be late for our flight."

"Right," Yusuke turned to Hiei, or where he'd last seen him.

"Looking for me, detective?" Hiei asked from the door.

"Okay so that answers that question," Yusuke muttered heading out the door.

**************

The trip to the mall was supposed to have been in and out but Botan tended to get sidetracked easily, and Yusuke had to practically drag Fay away from the skater store once she caught sight of it. That took thirty minutes in all, convincing Yusuke that Keiko would not appreciate him taking her a game that he wanted to play took ten. After that they stopped at the food court for a snack, which annoyed Hiei since, as he pointed out, they hat a time limit. Finally, they went in search of a store to buy the presents in, something Yusuke and Kuwabara had apparently not believed would take all that long. They were soon proven wrong to their mounting horror.

"I thought you hated shopping." Yusuke glanced at Fay as she looked through the store's collection of purses.

"I never said I hated shopping, I just don't usually like it because I'd rather be somewhere else." Fay responded, half her attention on a purse.

'Like that makes sense.' He thought.

"Tell me a little about Keiko."

Resigning himself to the torture, Yusuke grumbled an answer then tried stealthily sneaking away when she turned to something else. It proved impossible since Fay quickly shot out a hand and tugged at his jacket. "Look, we can make this quick and painful or we can make it long and torturous, you decide.

"Fine,' he grumbled. "But what exactly do you want me to do beside stand here and look like a thug, and that woman keeps looking over at me."

"She looks over at Kuwabara just as much," Fay pointed out. "Come on, we're going to the next store." She turned to head to the exit.

"What?! I thought we were just going to pick something out from this place, we've been to a dozen other stores." Sure they hadn't stayed there long but still!

Half in a panic, he looked over at what she'd been looking through before. "Hey, what about this? I mean…she might like this." He picked up a purse. He was pretty sure Keiko liked stuff like this, his gaze caught sight of something displayed on a nearby table and he walked over, picking it up. "What's this, a pencil holder?" It was girly enough, and the way Keiko kept going on about school she should have enough opportunities to use it. He opened it. 'That's convenient.' It already had pencils in it so that should do it. He was not entering another store! Yusuke turned to Fay. "I'm getting this, we've wasted enough time!" Grumbling he stomped over to the cashier line.

Fay hid her smug smile. 'One down.' Her sisters and friends had taught her well, and she'd also learned a thing or two on her own. They really hadn't spent more than two or three minutes in the last five stores but Kuwabara and Yusuke were acting just as she used to do when on a shopping trip, panicked. 'Now he can really say he picked them out himself.'

From what Kuwabara had said about Shizuru, Fay was pretty sure she knew what he should pick for her, still a little unsure about Yukina but she'd get there, then they could finally leave. Fay was starting to get goosebumps from all this shopping.

AN: Thanks for the reviews I'm almost at fifty, yay!^^

**_Next Chapter Preview_**

_"You will not be alone, I will be there..."_

_"So…something you haven't told me?" _

_'Oh no, Fay! This isn't part of the plan!'_

_"Shizuru, could you let go of my ear, now."_


	26. Chapter 26: Departure

CHAPTER 25: DEPARTURE

'This is stupid, there's no reason to feel like this, it's not like I'm leaving my home world, I already did that and breezed through it.' Of course that could have been because a part of her hadn't actually believed it would happen, in other words, she'd been an idiot. 'It's different this time, I'm just leaving one country and it's not like I'm doing it on my own.' Fay still hesitated in getting on the escalator. She didn't know why but it felt so…final this time.

A part of her felt like turning around and running…where? It wasn't like she could go back home, her home didn't even exist in this world. 'Come on Fay, don't be dumb.' She stayed still, looking down at the ground until a pair of black shoes appeared in her vision.

"You are nervous, it is understandable."

Fay looked up, her gaze caught on Kurama's. "Everything will be far different than what you are used to, even if this is a different world, this city still held its similarities to the one you come from."

She nodded, unable to speak.

"Where we're going nothing will be familiar."

She nodded again, silently screaming at herself to stop acting like an idiot and get on the damn escalator before she embarrassed herself further.

"It will be alright." He held out a hand to her. "You will not be alone, I will be there and so will everyone else. There is no need to fear." He smiled reassuringly, his hand still held out to her.

'That's right…even if everything else around me changes, Kurama will still be there.' Fay reached out a hand and placed it in his. He wrapped her smaller hand in his and led her onto the escalator. In that moment, her hand in his, she felt inexplicably happy.

Until Yusuke's voice popped her bubble. "You guys done flirting down there? We're gonna be late," He called down.

'Yusuke you idiot!' she thought her cheeks reddening. "We were not flirting, we were having a conversation!" she snapped up at him.

"If that's what you wanna call it, just hurry up. I don't wanna have to listen to a lecture from pacifier breath about being late." He turned to catch up with the others.

"Pacifier breath?" Fay asked confused. Yusuke glanced over his shoulder at her. "Koenma, and once you meet him you'll see why my nickname describes him so well."

Fay sweat dropped. 'Okaay.' She was not touching that one.

He suddenly smirked, turning around and walking backward. "So…something you haven't told me?" his tone was teasing.

Fay frowned in confusion once more. "What are you talking about?"

"Yusuke,' Kurama interrupted before Yusuke could speak. "Perhaps you should walk correctly."

Yusuke glanced over his shoulder, stopping in time to avoid colliding with a couple. "I think that's a good idea." He turned, handing his ticket over as they approached the gate.

Fay reached for her jacket pocket, felt a tug and looked down. "Sorry!" she apologized, snatching her hand from Kurama's. She'd completely forgotten that she still held his hand; obviously that's what Yusuke had noticed and misinterpreted. For a second it looked as if he would say something but in the end Kurama simply nodded and handed his ticket over, then waited until she did the same.

They boarded the plane and although Fay would have tried to keep a distance from Kurama, the isle didn't give her that option though finding their seats was easy enough, courtesy of Botan waving them over from where she sat...in Fay's seat.

"I do hope you don't mind my taking your place, Fay, but I just can't stand the window view seat."

"No…problem," Fay managed in a forcibly pleasant voice. She shot Botan a glare to which the grim reaper responded with a grin. Fay had been counting on not sitting close to Kurama so she could compose herself and not act like an idiot again, so of course she would end up sitting right next to him…for a little over nine hours.

He stepped aside to let her through then took his seat while she silently wondered if it was too late to turn and bolt, the voice over the intercom said that yes, yes it was. It wasn't like she hated the thought of sitting next to him; it made her happy and nervous at the same time. In other words, a wreck.

Fay didn't know what she should say to him, should she apologize for keeping a hold of his hand…was it too late and she shouldn't bother…what was he going to say before…was he mad at her or was she making a mountain out of a molehill?

It was either the butterflies in her stomach acting up a storm or she shouldn't have had that last bag of peanuts because her stomach was tying itself in knots and her heart was beating way too fast. 'Come on, Fay. Don't do anything stupid.' This meant she'd sit there like a statue for the next nine hours. Yeah…he would definitely not notice that.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

Fay silently applauded herself for not jumping off the seat like a spooked cat. "No, I'm fine." She managed in a barely normal tone.

"There is no reason to be nervous; surely you have been on a plane before?" He asked gently.

She nodded, "Yeah, I have…just not this last year,but I'm sure I'll be fine, once we're in the air." 'Liar.' She added to herself silently. Why couldn't Botan just have let her sit next to Kuwabara, or better yet why couldn't she have gotten the seat next to Hiei, maybe she could have convinced him to finally let her see his Jagan eye, once they got to their destination of course. And it wasn't like Kurama wouldn't have switched seats with Botan if she had asked him. Which meant Botan was plotting again.

Resigning herself, Fay leaned back against the backrest and tried to relax as the plane finally took off. Trying to think of a topic for conversation it wasn't until the third time that Fay realized she'd been nodding off. 'That's weird.' She really didn't feel tired or at least not tired enough that she should be nodding of like that.

"If you're tired rest," Kurama said noticing her nodding off. Fay jerked herself awake for the fourth time and turned to Kurama as he spoke. "It will be quite some time before we arrive and you still need to recuperate your strength."

'Well that's one way of avoiding conversation,' Fay thought wryly. She rubbed her eyes. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought." She stifled a yawn, leaned back and promptly fell asleep.

They hit some turbulence not long after she'd fallen asleep, it caused her sleeping form to slide and Kurama caught her, pulling up the arm rest between them and settling her head on his lap.

"Well, isn't she a regular sleeping beauty." Yusuke peeked over Kurama's seat once the turbulence had passed.

"Apparently she still needs rest." Kurama said.

"Well yeah, I can see that." What Yusuke wanted to know is if she'd go on sleeping like before until she regained all the energy her body had lost in fixing itself. It'd be really annoying if she suddenly dropped in the middle of say…the street.

He sat back down and thought. 'We should just get her an energy drink and that'll fix it.' Although he doubted that a normal one would do. 'Maybe Mary Anne knows about something like that.' It would definitely fix the problem. He'd try calling her now but he doubted the people here would appreciate a pint size college student showing up with her lunch out of nowhere. 'Guess it'll have to wait.'

'Oh no, Fay! This isn't part of the plan!' Botan fumed when she caught sight of Fay sleeping. This was supposed to have given them nine hours to get to know each other, surely they would have gotten somewhere in that amount of time. 'Well…I guess if she's still tired there's no help for it, but even if she does sleep for one or two hours, that still leaves a few hours left over.' Satisfied with her reorganized plan, Botan sat back and opened the magazine she'd been looking through. After all nothing of interest would happen until Fay woke up.

Unfortunately for her, three hours later she was wondering if anyone would notice if she threw the magazine at Fay…maybe it'd wake her up. 'She can't sleep for much longer…right?'

Four hours later Botan heard a rip and realized her magazine was now in pieces. 'Oh for the love- Why isn't she waking up!?' Even the flight attendant had passed by, giving Fay a worried look. Later on she walked by again and asked Kurama if her friend needed a doctor.

Kurama turned it down politely of course, but Botan would think the loud sound of a kid making a racket would wake Fay up. It didn't. Instead she continued sleeping…like a rock. She didn't even move or make a sound!

It wasn't until the plane landed that Fay finally stirred, blinking sleep from her eyes and sitting up.

"I'm glad to see you're finally awake, you were garnering some…unwanted attention."

Still half asleep Fay looked up at Kurama and blinked, wondering why he looked so close…

"Gah!" She pulled back, hit her head on the back of the seat and would have fallen if Kurama hadn't pulled her forward, which ended with her on his lap and blinking like an idiot.

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned. "That's the second time you've hit your head."

"Look who's finally awake." Yusuke rested his arms on the backrest and looked down at her. "Had a nice nap?"

"Umm…yeah, what time is it?" she asked frowning. She was still just a little groggy but she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour or so.

"It's eight p.m. on Sunday since we left on a Saturday, and as you can see, we have arrived." Kurama informed her.

Fay finally realized that people were gathering their things and leaving the plane. 'I slept through the whole thing? Great, now he must think I'm lazy!'

"I never knew someone could sleep so long without at least waking up once." Kuwabara added as he stood. Fay shot Botan, Hiei, and Yusuke a look that said 'anyone want to add more, do it at your own risk.' About to speak, Botan snapped her mouth shut, rethought her words and spoke. "The point is that we're here, so let's get going. Koenma said that Keiko and Shizuru would be here to welcome us."

"You might also want to get off Kurama, he needs his legs." Hiei smirked over his shoulder at Fay as headed down the aisle.

Fay jumped up, scooting out into the aisle. "I'm sorry!" she apologized, wondering how low she'd sunk in his eyes…then decided she didn't want to find out.

"It's alright, no harm done." He assured her calmly as he stood.

Yusuke snorted. "You sure about that? You did act as her pillow for the flight."

She needed to start carrying with her a mini size wall, then she wouldn't have to wonder where one was when it was needed. "Come on, we're the last ones of the flight." Yusuke grabbed her jacket as he passed and dragged her along.

"He did?" she whispered embarrassed. Yusuke grinned down at her. "Yeah but since your head's full of water-" He jerked his head away as she tried to connect her fist with it. 'One of these days, right in the-'

"We hope you enjoyed your flight." The airline attendant bowed as they passed her, interrupting Fay's thoughts. She smiled and followed Yusuke out as the attendant turned to the others.

As soon as they were out, a woman walked up to them, handing Fay a card. "What's this?" Fay frowned reading it.

"You may want to give it a try dear." The woman patted her on the arm before moving away.

"Center for Sleep Disorders." Yusuke read over her shoulder and burst out laughing.

"I do not have a sleeping disorder!" Fay shouted after the woman. "Who do you think I am, an Elm street kid?!" For her troubles Fay received a warning look from a passing security guard.

Fay decided she could do without knowing if Kurama was laughing, but since everyone else was… She huffed and stomped off to claim her luggage, until she realized she had no idea which way to head. 'Okay so I'll just follow the signs…as soon as I find them.' She started looking around wondering where they'd put them.

"In case you were wondering, it's over this way." Botan caught up with her and led her back to the others.

"Wait…how do you know?" Fay asked.

Kuwabara pointed, "The sign says so."

Fay looked up, yup that was the sign. "Well I'm not seven feet tall! How am I supposed to know where it is?" she defended herself.

"You could try looking up," Hiei smirked.

Yusuke laughed, "Yeah, even Hiei can do that."

Hiei's smirk turned into a scowl. "Exactly what do you mean by that, Yusuke, and I suggest you think over your answer carefully."

"Yeah, you tell him Hiei! Stick up for the little people!" Fay cheered.

He turned his glare on her while beside her Botan covered her mouth, she definitely heard Kurama cough and a glance at him told her he'd turned away. Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't bother trying, they burst into loud laughter.

Hiei glowered at her, his crimson gaze clearly stating this was all her fault.

"Oh look, we're almost there." Fay said cheerfully, turning and heading to the escalators while her friends got a hold of themselves behind her.

Fay stepped on first, followed by Botan who clapped her hands in delight as she spotted someone. "There they are I told you they'd be waiting." She said cheerfully to the others then turned to Fay. "Now you get to meet them. I just know you'll get along great."

Fay was still trying to figure out who Botan was talking about when Kuwabara rushed past them.

"Yukina!" he shouted happily. "I'm back my love! Did you miss me?" Arms open wide he raced toward a smiling girl with light green hair tied in a ponytail, and wearing a light blue kimono tied with a dark blue sash.

The girl waved, "Hello, Kazuma."

Kuwabara never made it to the girl however, a tall young woman with brown hair and a slim figure stopped him cold by grabbing the back of his shirt. "And where are you going?" she asked.

"Oh! Shizuru! I didn't see you there." Kuwabara laughed nervously, his hand behind his head.

"You didn't see me? That's not the greeting I was expecting after you've been away so long!" Kuwabara backed away or tried, Shizuru still held him by the scruff of his shirt. "I taught you to be more polite than that!"

"Uhh…that's his sister?" Fay asked pointing at the girl bullying Kuwabara around.

Botan nodded, "The one and only," She led Fay over to Yukina while a dark brown hair girl walked over to Yusuke, carrying what looked like a blue stuffed animal with long ears.

'So that's his girlfriend?' Fay glanced their way before Botan recalled her attention. "Fay, this is Yukina, she's Hi-" She suddenly stopped cold, nervously glancing over at Hiei for a second before turning back. "I mean, she's a friend and staying with Yusuke's teacher, Genkai."

Fay shot Botan a suspicious glance but bowed as the shorter girl did. "It is very nice to meet you." Yukina greeted.

"Nice to meet you too, Yukina." Fay said smiling.

"Oh, Shizuru, come here." Botan waved the taller girl over, who dragged Kuwabara by the ear with her. "This is Fay, the one I told you about on the phone a while back."

"Shizuru, could you let go of my ear, now." Kuwabara whined.

"Fine, but go get the luggage. I'm expecting a present from you."

Muttering under his breath, Kuwabara walked away while Shizuru turned to study Fay.

"So you're the one…all those factions are after." She said her tone pensive.

"Unfortunately I haven't convinced them to drop it, but I'm hopeful." Fay suddenly realized she'd held her hand out and was about to retract it and bow when Shizuru took a hold of it. "No need to-" Shizuru suddenly jerked her hand away, taking a step back.

Puzzled, Fay looked down at her hand wondering at Shizuru's reaction.

"Is something wrong?" Kurama asked as he joined them. Fay shook her head, not really knowing what to say.

"What, she shock you or something?" Yusuke wondered over to them with Keiko at his side.

"No…it's just…" Frowning, Shizuru looked down at the hand that had held Fay's. "There's an ocean inside you, for a moment I felt like I was drowning in it."

Fay blinked in confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

Shizuru scratched her head, sliding her hair back as she looked from Yusuke to Hiei, then Kurama. "You can't feel it?"

Yusuke shook his head. "No, I mean if you're talking about that vibe she gives off, we already talked about it. Some kind of light or something but definitely not an ocean."

"Yusuke's right, I've never felt what you just described," Kurama added.

"No, it's not a light," Shizuru said. "It was definitely an ocean but…" she looked pensively at Fay who tried not to squirm under her gaze. "It's so much power, how can you live with all of it inside you?"

'Ah, so that's it,' Fay thought. She'd never actually met anyone who could sense the full stretch of her power…actually even she couldn't sense it. Fay knew there was power trapped inside her but; well it was part of her so she never gave it any thought.

"I guess…the same way a glass holds water inside it without spilling; I was created to hold it without it giving me any bother." At least that's as close an explanation as Fay could give. Wizard, she was not.

Shizuru smiled, "Guess you're right."

"Hold it, are you saying she holds that much power inside her?" Yusuke leaned in closer to Fay, studying her. Fay stepped back getting annoyed. "I'm not a bug under a microscope so move it Yusuke."

"Yusuke!" The brown hair girl Fay was assuming was Keiko, snapped. He straightened, backing a few steps from Fay. "Uh, right. Fay, this is Keiko." He presented her.

Keiko turned a smile on her and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you Fay. Yusuke and Botan have told me all about you, I'm glad we're finally meeting."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too." Fay hesitantly grasped Keiko's hand but when Keiko merely shook it she relaxed. 'So, I guess it's just Shizuru.'

Now, if she could just get Hiei to stop starring at her like that. She shot him an inquiring look but as soon as she did he turned away. Fay turned back to Keiko, about to ask her about the stuffed animal when Yusuke spoke.

"Fay holding an ocean aside, I think we might want to help Kuwabara." He suggested, pointing to where Kuwabara struggled with all their luggage.

"That would help!" Kuwabara exclaimed trying to stop their baggage from spilling all over the floor.

"Oops, I'll just go get that." Botan said as one of the suitcases hit the floor.

"I can carry my stuff," Fay added walking over to help.

"Don't bother. Kuwabara can take care of that," Shizuru said.

"Hey!" Kuwabara protested.

"Besides,' Shizuru continued. "We have three taxis waiting outside, which reminds me, we better hurry up." They walked over to Kuwabara, unaware of the silent discussion two of their group members were having.

~What are you thinking, Hiei?~

~That that's an interesting way of putting it, especially when we've seen little proof of her power~

~True, but remember she just found about this not long ago. Fay has little to no recollection of her past, and even if she did, she is still unable to use that power. Remember what she said, she is merely the vessel~

~A vessel that many covet. According to their own words, her power would give them the ability to completely change worlds~

Kurama turned sharply in his direction. ~You are not seriously thinking of…~

Hiei gave Kurama an annoyed look. ~No, I'm not. I have little use for a power that is not mine, but I was beginning to wonder exactly how great her power is when she can't even defend herself~

Kurama smiled, turning his gaze to her. ~From what Shizuru said, it is great. If it feels like an ocean to her…~ His gaze turned worried yet determined. ~It is imperative we let no one take her. The words of the faction members we have met lead me to believe that they will not stop at one world and it is very probable that they will destroy many worlds in their conquest~

Hiei shot him an inquiring look. ~And this determination of yours not to let anyone take her has nothing to do with your feelings for her?~ His tone was unbelieving.

Kurama glanced at Hiei then away. ~What I feel matters little; after all she seems to prefer your company to mine. At least from you, she does not flinch as if afraid to be struck~

Hiei snorted in disbelief. ~I never pegged you for someone dense, Kurama~

Kurama turned back to Hiei. ~What exactly do you mean by that?~

"Kurama, Hiei! We're going to leave you behind if you don't hurry up!" Yusuke called.

Their conversation interrupted, the two headed for the group near the doors.

"Not to sound rude or anything but…why are you carrying that stuffed…bunny/penguin around with you?" Fay asked Keiko.

On Shizuru's other side Kuwabara burst out laughing. "You hear that, Yusuke? A bunny!"

Looking miffed, Yusuke glared over at him. "Let's see how funny you find it when your head's stuck through a wall!"

Confused, Fay looked from Kuwabara to Yusuke then to Keiko when she started to explain. "Oh, Puu's not a stuffed animal; he's just trying to act that way because there are so many people around. He's actually Yusuke's spirit beast."

"What's a spirit beast?" Fay asked.

"I can explain that," Botan cut in from Keiko's other side. Grumbling, Yusuke stomped ahead to where the taxis waited.

Botan explained to Fay about the first time she'd met Yusuke and about him getting the egg and feeding it his spirit energy, then using that energy to save Keiko and later on in something called the Dark Tournament, it had finally hatched, reflecting Yusuke's inner self.

Fay burst into laughter patting Yusuke on the head. "Why Yusuke, a bunny penguin, I never knew you were so cute inside. Maybe we should get you a t-shirt," she covered her mouth trying to muffle her laughter when Yusuke threatened her with a fist. "That says I'm with furry."

"Anyone else starts laughing again they're gonna get a black eye!" Yusuke snapped before all, but Kuwabara, could start laughing. They didn't listen but Yusuke took out his annoyance on Kuwabara.

"Hey, I'm not the one that started this again! It was Fay." He pointed at her with one hand while the other rubbed his bruised cheek.

"Yusuke already owed me from before," Fay said smugly. "This makes us even for laughing at the squirrels."

Keiko looked from her to Yusuke. "What squirrels?" she asked.

Yusuke smirked turning to Fay. "Yeah, Fay. Why don't you explain to them about the squirrels? Or maybe I should just tell them about the granny incident."

Her eyes narrowed and she glared. "You wouldn't dare."

He grinned. "Watch me."

"Oh, the taxis, we better get on." Keiko moved past them heading for one of the taxis.

'Safe!' Fay thought in relief. She stuck out her tongue at Yusuke and ran for the third taxi before he could get close enough to bonk her on the head.

Of course, had Fay given it any thought, she would have followed to whichever taxi Botan climbed into but as it turned out, she ended up sharing the taxi with Kurama and Hiei.

She would have started calling herself three different types of stupid, at least inside her mind, but since Hiei was there and he could read her mind, Fay decided to keep her thoughts as blank as possible. It wasn't like she minded Hiei, Kurama…okay she didn't mind being in his company either, on the contrary, it was just that it came back to her that she'd used him as a pillow for a whole nine hour flight…she was trying to avoid those thoughts.

"How are you feeling now?"

Kurama's question startled her out of her thoughts. "Oh…I'm fine."

"I'm glad to see you're no longer nervous." Kurama added.

"Yeah…I mean no. I mean I couldn't be nervous, not when everyone's been so nice, and umm…you…were right. There wasn't any reason for me to feel so unsure before." She needed to watch her mouth a little more closely, she'd almost slipped there.

He smiled. "I'm glad."

Silence descended and it was starting to feel awkward so Fay fished around for something to say when she remembered something. "Hiei?"

He glanced her way. "What?"

"Where's your sibling?" she asked. His eyes narrowed. "I thought I told you that I don't have any."

"I remember you saying that but I thought you just didn't want to talk about it at that moment, but I'm pretty sure you were…" Fay trailed off. Why did she feel like she was missing something? 'It has to do with that day…but what is it?' If she could just pinpoint it.

"Perhaps you should tell her, Hiei," Kurama suggested. "It already appears that Fay has her suspicions, what if she was to figure it out and…speak it out loud in front of her?"

Narrowed eyed, Hiei turned to look at Kurama, not buying that innocent expression for one moment, then turned to Fay. 'He has a point.' He'd spend enough time with Fay to know that she sometimes tended to blurt out what she was thinking…or not thinking for that matter.

Then again, Fay couldn't be worse than Botan. The detective's assistant had managed to keep the secret so far. "Fine, tell her, I don't care." He turned to look out the window, wishing he'd decided to meet them at their destination; of course the problem was that he wasn't sure what their destination was.

Puzzled, Fay turned from Hiei to Kurama and back to him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want too, Hiei. I don't need to-"

"You've already met her. Yukina is Hiei's sister. She is an ice apparition from Ice World which floats above Demon World. Although she does know that she has a brother and has come to the human world to seek him, she does not know it is Hiei, and he prefers it that way."

Fay turned back to Hiei. "But…why? If she's your sister shouldn't she know that you're-"

"No," he interrupted her. "This is my choice; I don't need you or anyone else giving me pointers on how I should handle my affairs, and by the way stay out of them and keep your mouth shut." He turned away ending the conversation in his mind.

"I'm sorry; I just think that's sad for the both of you," Fay whispered.

"Hn!"

"It is his choice; there is little we can do about it." Kurama answered quietly.

Kurama was right, and she knew how stubborn Hiei could be so there was little she could do about it, especially if everyone else knew and he hadn't listened to them… "Wait…I'm taking a guess here and saying that Kuwabara doesn't know…and you're okay with your sister being his girlfriend?"

Hiei snapped around to look at her, a glare in his eyes. "He is not Yukina's boyfriend; the fool's merely too blind to see when he's not wanted!"

Fay thought back to the airport and frowned. "You sure about that, she was really nice to him."

"Yukina's nice to just about everyone, it's her nature. You insist on being nice to me, that doesn't necessarily mean you like me." Hiei scoffed, then his eyes widened in surprised as Fay hugged him. "Of course it means I like you, Hiei. We already went over this, remember? You're my cuddly little teddy bear!" She teased.

"Remove your hands from around me before I make you regret it!" He snapped.

"Aaah is Hiei feeling a little shy now?"

Hiei gritted his teeth, glancing at Kurama. "This is your last warning I-"

"Perhaps you should do as Hiei says, Fay."

At his tone, Fay released Hiei and turned to look at Kurama. "Kurama…is something wrong?"

AN: R&R See you next chapter ^^

_NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW_

"_Fine guilt trip me…"_

"_Is something wrong?"_

"_Don't you see? If I don't intervene…"_

"_I must know Fay…"_


	27. Chapter 27: Arrival

CHAPTER 26: ARRIVAL

Kurama's face was impassive but his tone had been cold and his emerald gaze as he turned to her was intense. She swallowed, her heart beating fast. Had she done something wrong? He looked so…so… She blinked. Had his eyes just flashed golden?

"Kurama!" Hiei's warning tone seemed to snap him out of it and his gaze lost its intensity, warming as he smiled. "I'm sorry, my mind was…otherwise preoccupied."

"Oh." Fay leaned back against the seat, the three falling into silence until the taxi stopped in front of a wooden garden gate, the path behind it led to a two story Tudor style home.

Fay exited the cab after Hiei, walking over to get a closer look. "Is this where we're staying?" she asked as Botan joined her. The blue hair girl nodded. 'Yup, isn't it nice? I thought it would make you feel more comfortable to be in surroundings you know, and Koenma agreed."

"Well don't just stand outside looking, let's go in." Shizuru opened the door letting Botan, Fay, Yukina, and Keiko go through.

"Wait the luggage." Fay turned to go back.

"Don't worry about it, that's what little brothers and guys are for." Shizuru let the gate close, bringing up the rear.

"You sure we shouldn't help?" she asked.

"We'll help them once they bring the luggage in, let's go tour the house." Botan tugged at Fay's sleeve and reluctantly she followed.

The front door led into a large living room with hardwood floors, and one of the two halls on the other side let to a dining room and kitchen while the second hall led to bedrooms. To one side of the living room a wooden staircase curled upward leading to a second floor that separated into two halls though both led to different bedrooms.

The group of girls headed down the right hallway to the last room. "What do you think, Fay?" Keiko asked as Botan opened the door. "Shizuru and I thought you might like this room. There's a view of the garden."

"Puuuu." The blue spirit beast flapped his ears flying over to the window Fay opened. 'It has a trellis.' Her room had one back home, she'd used it a whole lot throughout the years getting in and out without her parents knowing. Not that she'd use it this time around. Fay turned back to Keiko and smiled. "I like it, thanks."

"Would you two come get your stuff? We're not gonna lug it all the way up there!" They heard Yusuke shout.

"Guess we better go get our things." Botan said leading the way back down.

"Are you guys staying here as well?" Fay asked the three girls. Behind them Puu flew to catch up, landing in Keiko's arms again.

"We're not just going to let you stay with four guys; you'll be bored to death soon." Shizuru responded.

"Shizuru and I are staying here for a while but Yukina's going back to Genkai's in the morning." Keiko added.

"Oh,' Fay glanced over at the girl walking on Keiko's other side. "Well, please visit us anytime you want, I'd love to get to know Hi…" Botan gave her a panicked look and Fay just barely managed to change her words. "You, I'd love to get to know you. Kuwabara says that you're a great healer."

Yukina smiled up at her. "That's very nice of Kazuma to say, but I'm really just beginning to learn compared to Master Genkai. Her abilities far surpass my own."

"Oh…I've heard that name mentioned before and you guys keep saying that she's Yusuke's Master so…does that mean she taught him how to fight?"

"That's right, Genkai spend months training Yusuke from what I understand." Keiko responded.

"Yeah, she also says he was a pain in the neck." Shizuru added as the girls descended the stairs.

"Well about time." Yusuke grumbled.

"Aren't you going to help them take their things up to their rooms?" Keiko asked.

"As if," Yusuke scoffed. "Besides, Fay got more than enough sleep on the plane; I think she can handle two suitcases."

"That's not very nice, especially if she was sick not that long ago." Keiko chided him.

'Wow, she's really good at handling him.' Fay thought watching as Yusuke seemed to struggle with wither he'd help or just stomp off to his room. 'Not that I actually need help but this is entertaining.' She knew the moment he capitulated to Keiko's wishes.

"Fine guilt trip me into being her servant why don't you." Yusuke was about to pick up her suitcases when someone else beat him to it.

"That won't be necessary, Yusuke. Please help Botan with her luggage; I will help with Fay's." Kurama started up the stairs, pausing when Fay didn't move to follow. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Fay shook her head, the hands hidden behind her back in tight fists. 'No I just…I just…'

"Well don't lag behind." She was suddenly pushed into motion by Botan who set her hands on Fay's shoulders and gave her a light push forward. "You can show Kurama the view of the garden from your room."

"Right, I'll do that." Fay started after Kurama who began moving up the stairs once more.

"Take your time." Botan said kitty smile in place.

"Something going on I should know about, Botan?" Botan turned to look at Yusuke who glowered down at her. She laughed, "Of course not Yusuke, whatever would you mean by that?"

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Don't give me that Miss. Innocent act; I know something's going on-"

"Yusuke," At the interruption he turned to Shizuru. "Yeah?"

"Shouldn't you be taking your luggage to your room? For someone who complains about it, you sure have a lot of it." She kicked a suitcase that fell over with her foot.

"Fine, but this isn't over Botan. An assistant's supposed to keep me posted on everything that goes on."

"I'll tell you when there's something you need to know." Botan said in a sing song voice as Yusuke picked up his stuff and headed down the downstairs halls leading to the rooms.

Once he was gone, Shizuru turned on Botan. "Okay girl, spill it. What was that all about?"

Botan suspiciously looked one way then the other, then behind sofas and inside a closet on the other side of the living room.

"What are you doing?" Keiko asked her.

"Shhh." Botan walked back to the girls. "I'm making sure no one's listening on this, but…" she leaned in closer, took one last look around and whispered her secret to the three girls listening.

"Really?" Keiko asked, wondering why she was whispering too.

'So that's it.' Shizuru looked at the stairs with a pensive look.

"Why doesn't Fay just tell Kurama?" Yukina asked.

"Shh!" Botan whispered. "She doesn't want him to know, she thinks that he'll reject her, but I think he likes her too though I just can't understand why he hasn't said anything either."

"I see." Yukina said.

"So far that girl has foiled all my perfect plans to get them together, but don't worry, I'm working on another one and this one won't fail." She gave them a cattish smirk.

"I don't know…maybe you shouldn't get involved Botan," Keiko cautioned. "It's their feelings so shouldn't we let them work it out on their own?"

"Don't you see? If I don't intervene this could go on forever. Fay has never liked a boy before in her whole life, much less gone on a date! And Kurama…uhh…" Botan trailed off trying to think of something to say. "Well, he's Kurama."

"Exactly, and he's the brains of the group if you haven't noticed. Don't you think he'll figure it out on his own?" Shizuru asked, reaching for the packet of cigarettes she carried with her.

"Well he hasn't so far!" Botan exclaimed then clapped her hands over her mouth. "You girls have to promise to keep this a secret, at least until I can finally get those two together." She whispered once more letting her hands drop.

"Of course," Yukina replied. Shizuru and Keiko glanced at each other but nodded. "Fine, we won't say anything." Keiko promised.

"Good, now that that's settled." Botan turned to look at her luggage. "What is taking Yusuke so long?"

"Oh! I forgot, the presents. Yusuke said he was bringing me a present." Keiko started for the hall.

"Wait, Keiko," Botan called and the brown hair girl turned around. "Yes?"

"I almost forgot none of us really had much room for the presents so we placed them in Fay's suitca-" she stopped realizing her mistake.

"In that case I'll go up and ask her for them." Keiko turned running up the stairs before Botan could stop her. "Nooo! You'll ruin my plan!" she called after her.

"What plan?" Yusuke asked walking back into the living room, Kuwabara behind him. "Uhh…my plan…for…for,' Botan quickly looked around until her gaze landed on her suitcases. "For you to help me take this up to my room, you wouldn't want me to hurt my back, right?"

"Riiiight, whatever," Yusuke looked up at Kuwabara. "Hey, Kuwabara, help Botan get her stuff to her room."

"Why me, Urameshi? I practically carried all our stuff to the taxis! You do some work for a change."

"Well you see there's this pain in my back that hasn't gone away since we got on the plane-"

"Don't make up excuses, Urameshi! I know you're just trying to-"

"What did I say about manners!?"

Kuwabara snapped to attention at Shizuru's tone. "Okay, okay, I'll help her." Grumbling, Kuwabara struggled until he'd picked up the four suitcases.

"Thank you, Kuwabara." Botan smiled leading the way up to her room.

"Yeah, yeah. I better at least get a tip for this!" He grumbled.

Yusuke smirked then looked around but when he didn't see Keiko, he turned to the two girls still in the room. "Where did Keiko go?"

"She went up to Fay's room to get the presents." Yukina replied.

"Right, the presents." He'd forgotten all about it. It also reminded him that he still hadn't forgiven Fay for tricking him into shopping. He suddenly smirked, turning to the girls. "Did I happen to mention before this little incident that happened…"

"Here, I'll open the door." Fay ran ahead of Kurama and opened the door to her room, stepping aside to give him enough room. She stood, uncertain on what to do or say as he placed the suitcases on the floor. 'What…did Botan tell me to do?' Her gaze caught on the window and she practically ran to it. "That's right…uhh…the garden…I mean the view of the garden, it's really nice, even if it is dark outside." They'd left the window open and the soft wind blew into the room, filling it with the scent of flowers.

Fay took a couple of steps back when he joined her at the window and looked out. "Yes, the view is beautiful." He slowly turned to her, taking a step forward. Fay would have taken a couple of dozen back but she ran out of space on four and hit the wall.

"I…must admit, I find myself puzzled by your behavior toward me. One moment you give your life for me the next you run. It is a conundrum I am unable to solve as of yet."

'Botan…Botan's right.' Fay thought swallowing. 'Kurama isn't an idiot, he'll figure it out soon and I…and I…think I'm feeling faint.' The last she thought as he came close enough to cast a shadow over her, placing a hand on the wall above her. Her face was turning red, she just knew it, and someone had definitely cranked up the heat in her room.

"I must know Fay,' he leaned in closer, and she had the stupid thought that it was winter, so why the heck was this place not colder…a sudden storm of ice would be good. "Do you-"

"Fay, Botan says you have the present- Oh!" Keiko stopped at the door, her eyes wide as she took the pair in. It almost looked as if Kurama were leaning in to…kiss her. She blushed. "Sorry for interrupting, I'll leave."

"No! It's okay." Sounding desperate, Fay slid halfway across the wall and went to one of her suitcases as Keiko turned back. "The presents, yeah I've got them." She pushed the suitcase over and unzipped it, bringing out three store bags: a blue, black and green one. Keiko hesitated, glanced over at Kurama then walked into the room, sitting on the ground next to Fay and placing Puu down on the bed.

"Fay."

The girl looked up at Kurama. "Our conversation is not at an end, we will speak of this later." She nodded and turned away unable to respond. Kurama gave Keiko a pleasant smile before walking out of the room.

Silence descended until Fay groaned, flopping atop the opened suitcase. "I think my heart's about to give out." It had to; it was beating so fast it could almost break out of her ribcage.

"Umm…I know it's not my place but Botan told us and-" Fay jerked up and turned to Keiko. "Please don't tell anyone,' her eyes narrowed. "And remind me to get back at Botan for this one."

Keiko sweat dropped. "Like I was saying, I know it's not my place but I think you should tell him…I mean I guess you haven't told him but…" Keiko replayed the scene she'd walked in on. 'It did look like he was going to kiss her.' It had been obvious but…she turned to look at Fay who waited for her to speak. 'I don't think she realizes that.' "Maybe you really should, who knows, everything might not be as bad as you fear."

"I know I should, Botan's said as much before but I'm…I'm scared. It's kind of stupid actually. I've never been afraid of anything…actually I have but I've never let it get the best of me. My grandmother always told me that we should never let fear conquer us but face it straight on."

Fay picked up the white teddy bear that had been hidden behind the bags in her suitcase, hugging it to her. "But this kind of fear is different and…I've spend most of my life facing all my other fears that I think this one hid in the background." There had never been any reason to even think of it. All the guys she'd known were her friends, the closest to a 'date' she'd ever gotten was when her and the rest of her friends went together to a game, picked a team and booed them to the point of getting kicked out of the stadium. Okay, so the Barney and SpongeBob costumes had helped it along but… Fay shook her head. 'I'm wondering off again.'

"Well, maybe it's time you faced it." Keiko gave her a supportive smile. "And if things do go wrong we'll always be here to support you." Puu jumped off the bed, landing on Fay's lap.

"Puu!" He exclaimed happily.

Fay smiled. 'I wonder…does that mean Yusuke thinks the same thing?' Puu was a lot nicer than how Yusuke usually acted but…maybe that was because he put up that punk routine. "Thanks." She told Keiko. "That does make me feel better so I'll think it over but meanwhile, here." Changing the subject, Fay lay down the bear and picked out the blue bag, handing it to Keiko. "Botan wanted us to wrap it up and put a bow on them but Yusuke started to complain about it not being anyone's birthday so we settled for the bags.

Keiko took the bag, opened it and reached inside. "Yusuke…picked this out for me on his own?" Keiko asked her tone a little disbelieving and surprised.

Fay nodded. "Yup. Of course I kinda tricked him into it but the point is that he did."

Keiko gave the purse a sweet smile and placed it next to her. "Then I guess he does deserve a thank you." She reached in and took out the pencil case opening it up just as Shizuru and Yukina came in, both laughing.

"What's so funny?" Fay asked.

Yukina smiled down at her. "Did you really use spaghetti to scare your cousin?" Fay's eyes widened. "Who told you that,' she paused her eyes narrowing. "Yusuke!" she shouted half standing. 'Okay that's it, he's so getting-'

"Relax, we won't tell anyone." Shizuru assured her sitting down on her other side and pushing a half kneeling Fay back into a sitting position.

"Everyone who matters knows it by now!" Fay snapped in embarrassment. "Mind you I'm also going to make Mary Anne pay for ever opening up that certain box-"

"Spaghetti?" This came from Keiko who looked from Yukina who'd knelt on her other side to Shizuru and Fay who hid her gaze.

"In my defense it was Halloween, and he asked for it when he set all those stupid fish heads dangling in my room." Till this day, she hadn't been able to make him fess up how he'd managed that on his own. That had made the score fifteen to sixteen with him in the lead, and there'd been no way she was just going to sit around on her hands and not pay him back for it.

So she'd found out what he was afraid off and figured the more tentacles it had, the more scared he'd be. She'd used food coloring on them and pasted the spaghetti to the colored mop, made it look like a giant jellyfish…and chased him around the backyard for five minutes of fun…until she'd slipped and fallen into a mud puddle, then her mother had grounded her for using the spaghetti she had been preparing for dinner. Keiko's laughter as Shizuru finished telling her interrupted Fay's thoughts, and she turned back to the bags.

"Okay, so now that everyone knows let's move on." She muttered grumpily.

"This is for you Shizuru." She handed Shizuru the black bag and then turned to Yukina, handing her the green bag.

"Oh!" Yukina said sounding surprised.

"Kuwabara picked out something for you too and since I kind of helped picking out something for Keiko and Shizuru I thought I should get you something too but since I didn't really know you, Hiei helped me out."

Fay hadn't known then that Yukina was Hiei's sister but almost everyone, Kuwabara excluded, had suggested she ask him to help her pick out the item and surprisingly enough, he'd done it. Of course now she knew why.

"Did Yusuke pick this out too?" Keiko asked looking at the small black and white tuxedo that had been in her bag.

"I didn't really get why he wanted it and he wouldn't let anyone tell me but I guess now I know." Fay turned to look at Puu who still sat on her lap. "He wanted it for you didn't he?" She laughed and picked up the blue spirit beast. "If he'd told me while we were there I could have helped him find a matching pair for him, shoes and all."

"That I'd pay to see," Shizuru smirked looking the silver cigarette case over. "Are you sure my brother picked this out on his own?"

"Yeah, all I did was show him the store and threaten him with three more." Fay answered.

"Guess I better thank him." She put the case back in the bag and turned to Fay. "And thanks." Fay smiled in acknowledgment and turned back to her current occupation, keeping Puu still while Keiko dressed him in the tuxedo.

"There you go," Fay handed Puu back to Keiko as she finished dressing him. "You look very handsome, Puu." Keiko said raising him up.

"Yes, he's very cute." Yukina commented putting down the kimono and looking up at Puu.

"You know, if you squint, you can see how Yusuke would look in the outfit." Fay said smiling up at Puu.

A hand landed atop her head and she turned to see a glowering Yusuke. "And I'm supposed to laugh at that too?" He asked, eye twitching. Fay grinned and pulled at his cheeks to his growing irritation.

"Of course not, Yusuke. You're supposed to sit down and take it. This is pay back for that story." His eyes narrowed. "That was payback for the shopping, what you want me to tell them the airport incident?" he threatened.

Fay's eyes narrowed and she pulled at his cheeks a little harder. "You tell them and I swear you'll wake up with pink hair one of this days."

Kuwabara's laughter reached them as he came to a stop at the door and both turned. "Look at Puu! Hey, Yusuke maybe we should get you-"

"You start too and I swear I'll put your head through the door!" Yusuke turned back to Fay. "And you better let go!" He pushed down on her head.

She kept her grin though it was starting to look forced. "And you better let go of my head." She said pulling a little more on his cheeks.

They both glared, until Puu landed on Yusuke's head and blinked down at her. To Yusuke's irritation Fay burst into laughter, though she did let go. 'Why I oughta…' It didn't help that she wasn't the only one laughing.

"Enough!" He straightened, letting his hand drop from Fay's head and glaring. "My first day back and-"

"Yusuke, thanks for the presents. I really like them." Keiko interrupted, standing with the bag in hand. Yusuke struggled with wanting to continue shouting and accepting her thanks. Finally he let it go and shrugged. "No problem, I did promise you something." He grumbled, though Keiko's smile seemed to mollify him, until Botan peeked in. "What's all the laught…" she took one look at Puu and burst into laughter.

"Fine! Laugh all you want, I'm going to bed!" He stomped out of the room, Puu on his head. He was halfway down the stairs when Hiei walked in the front door. Although he didn't burst into laughter he did smirk. "Considering a new look, Yusuke?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Why don't you go join the rest of those idiots, you'll fit right in." He shot Kurama a warning look as he passed him on the corridor when the red head smiled, and slammed his door closed behind him.

"That was fun, we should do it again." Shizuru stood slinging the bag over her right shoulder.

"That's right, we have school tomorrow." Keiko said looking at the time on her watch.

"School?" Fay asked surprised. Well…she didn't know much about school in Japan…okay she didn't know anything about it, but she'd thought they'd be on winter break, though come to think of it…hadn't December just started?

"Oh that's right, I didn't tell you about it." Botan walked over to the closet and opened it bringing out a blue uniform. "Tada! Starting tomorrow this is your new school uniform."

Fay tilted her head to the side, unable to comprehend what Botan had just told her. "What?" she asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Oh for!- We've enrolled you in Yusuke's school to make you fit in better, besides this way he and Kuwabara will be on hand if anything happens." She explained.

"I…see." Fay pursed her lips looking from the uniform to an expectant Botan. "Anddd, you expect me to wear that?" Botan nodded cheerfully.

"It's the girl's uniform," Keiko explained. "And it's your size so you don't have to worry about it not fitting you."

That's not what Fay was worrying about. She had a reputation to uphold…well not really, but she'd already been made to wear all this…dresses and skirts! Now she was expected to… She sighted inwardly in defeat. 'Whining about it won't do me any good. So I guess I'll have to take it…kinda like a shot at the doctor's.' Fay wasn't entirely sure what was more painful though. "It…uhh…looks nice but how am I going to even be able to participate. I can't read Japanese."

"Have you had any trouble reading it since we arrived?"

Those still in the room turned to Kurama as he paused at the door. Trying not to remember the earlier incident, Fay thought back to the airport. 'The signs…I read the signs.' Now that she thought about it she hadn't had any trouble doing that. Not that she actually could suddenly read Japanese, it was more like the words had just…changed to English in her eyes. Fay shook her head. "No, I guess not."

He smiled reassuringly. "Then there is no reason to worry."

"And on that note, we should all get going. Fay still has to unpack and get ready for her first day of school. Night," Shizuru called over her shoulder as she walked out.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Hands in pockets, Kuwabara headed back to his room.

"Yes. Goodnight, Fay. Thank you very much for the present." Yukina bowed and followed Shizuru out.

"I'll see you early in the morning, Fay." Keiko waved as she left.

"I better go myself; still have a lot of unpacking to do." Botan hung the uniform and cheerfully walked out of the room, giving Fay a conspiratory smile over her shoulder.

'He was serious!' Fay thought alarmed when Kurama didn't leave as well. 'No. No. No. I'm not ready yet, Botan how could you!' Her eyes widened when he stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind him. Fay swallowed, taking a step back.

"I believe we have a conversation that needs finishing."

He looked so determined and yet…yet, that face. The one he'd had in the taxi. He hated her, she just knew it, he was just too nice to tell her. She wouldn't have it! She couldn't face that expression returning if she confessed her feelings. 'I'm a coward! I've admitted this before. So please…someone…stop this…' Feeling almost desperate, she called his name in her head.

Kurama closed the door behind him. He was determined to end this now. 'I must know. If she truly hates me I will do what I must to stop this, however I cannot believe that she would give her life for one whom she dislikes so much.' He stepped forward and as before she stepped away. He did not want to admit it, but it…hurt him when she backed away from him. "Please, Fay. I must know-"

"Kurama." The red head turned to the open window as Hiei appeared. "There's something you should take a look at." He jumped on to the floor and Fay placed herself behind him, her face turned away.

Kurama's eyes narrowed at her movement, his green eyes cooling. "Must it be now, Hiei?" he asked.

"Yes." He walked past him to the door then paused, looking back when Kurama didn't move to follow. "Now, Kurama." Hiei said impatiently. Kurama finally turned, his eyes hidden by red hair. "Very well."

"Kurama." He glanced back when she spoke.

"We'll talk tomorrow, promise." Fay smiled hoping she didn't look as if she were about to burst into tears.

He looked surprised for a moment, then smiled as his green eyes warmed. "Very well, goodnight Fay."

"Night. Goodnight Hiei." She called as the door closed.

~I hope you intent to keep that promise. I am not a dog that will answer your every summons~

~I know Hiei, and I appreciate you being there when I need you~ The warmth in her voice startled him but he kept it well hidden.

~You should…run into Yukina soon. I'm sure she'd like to thank you for helping pick out the kimono~

He didn't answer; cutting the connection but Fay could almost feel his smug satisfaction.

She stood smiling in her room, until her promise echoed back at her. Fay sunk to her knees, hazel brown hair spilling over her shoulders as she hung her neck. She'd made the promise on instinct, and because she'd wanted to see Kurama smile. It had worked, and now… 'Now my time's almost up.' She wouldn't go back on her word.

Fay swallowed. Tomorrow, she would tell him. 'Please just…don't show me that face. I don't want that face directed at me.' She wiped at the tears and grabbed the white bear, hugging it tightly to her chest.

R&R. Till next chapter^^

_Next Chapter Preview_

_'Guess I brought this on myself.'_

_"Don't blame me for her!"_

_"Don't bother waking me up when the bell rings."_

_"You can't blame me for you!"_


	28. Chapter 28: School Day

CHAPTER: 27: School Day

"I hope Yusuke hurries up; I really don't think it'd be a good thing for you to be late on your first day of school." Keiko said, picking up her lunch bag from the kitchen counter top.

Fay yawned and nodded, her head lying atop the arms she rested on the counter. Keiko paused looking over at her. "Are you alright, Fay? Couldn't you sleep?"

"No, I slept fine…I guess I'm still suffering from jet lag." Fay assured her hiding another yawn.

Truth was that she'd gotten very little sleep yesterday night. First, she'd slept over nine hours on the plane, secondly she'd kept going over and over what exactly and how, she would tell Kurama. When she had finally managed to fall asleep, that dream had started again. This time it had been so real she could almost smell the air in those dark woods.

Hiei had woken her, like he had since the beginning she had realized. He'd asked when exactly she'd gotten lost in the woods, and while Fay had replied that she had gotten lost as a child when her and her family had visited a national park, it had been daylight and nothing like the woods in her dream. Besides, the bear hadn't been trying to climb the tree to get to her.

He'd said it'd figured and cut the connection. After that she'd tossed and turned. Around five thirty she'd given up on sleep and gotten up to cook breakfast and prepare lunch. 'Guess I brought this on myself.' Fay thought head face down.

Yusuke yawning as he entered the kitchen made her look up. He was followed by Kuwabara who was also yawning. "First day back and I'm expected to go to school, just great." Yusuke grumbled.

"Don't complain you haven't been to school in over two months." Keiko reprimanded.

"Yeah but I'm not feeling so good today, I think I may be coming down with something." Yusuke said trying to hold in another yawn.

"Yeah same here." Kuwabara stretched, yawning loudly.

Keiko looked from Yusuke, to Kuwabara, then to Fay as she yawned as well.

"Don't think you're gonna slack off, Kazuma." Shizuru slapped Kuwabara's bag over his head. "Hey!" He complained turning to glare at her.

"You're going to school! Now stop acting like a wimp!"

Kuwabara straightened taking the bag from his sister. "Okay. Okay. I was just kidding." He grumbled.

"The same with you, Yusuke. Look, you're already being a bad influence on Fay." Keiko pointed at the half sleeping girl.

Yusuke's eye twitched. "Don't blame me for her! She skipped classes in her old school as well!" he picked up his lunch bag and glared at Fay.

"You did?" Keiko asked her in surprise.

Fay struggled to sit up and nodded. "Yeah but I had a really good reason."

"Going off to skate with your friends was not a good reason." Yusuke objected.

"Skate? What kind of skating, is it ice skating?" Keiko asked curiously.

Yusuke and Kuwabara burst into laughter while Fay glared at them. "While I do know how to do that, I prefer to stick with rollerblades. I can use a skateboard too but that comes in as a second choice." She explained to Keiko.

"Did you ever use one of those little skirts for ice skate-" Yusuke stood still as her black school back flew at him and smirked when it sailed over his shoulder.

"One of this days, you're gonna forget!" Fay glared as he snickered.

"Enough you three," Shizuru interrupted. "Off to school, you don't want to be late."

Tiredly, Fay nodded and jumped off the stool, picked up her lunch bag and then walked over to her black bag. 'It's kinda weird.' She thought. 'This bag's so different from my backpack.' She would definitely not be carrying it on her back. This also meant she couldn't stow her rollerblades in it. 'Bother.' Fay thought following Keiko as she made her way to the front door.

At least her talk with Kurama had been postponed. He didn't go to the same school she'd be attending and he'd left right after breakfast while everyone else, but Keiko, had been dragging their feet to get ready. Botan had taken Yukina back to Genkai's before heading off to Spirit World, saying she needed to report in and get some work done but she'd be back after school hours. Shizuru didn't have school so she'd be staying back, while Hiei had gone missing after breakfast.

"You'll be in the same class with me and Yusuke." Keiko explained to her while they walked. "And don't be nervous, everyone will be nice. Oh, and if you need anyone to show you around I'll be happy to volunteer."

"Thanks," Fay said. "I've actually never had to be the new kid, at least not since I first started school. My family hasn't moved since before I was born so I can't really say I'm looking forward to it."

"Don't worry, you know me." Yusuke smiled as he looked over at her. "And I'm pretty much it."

"Hey! What about me, Urameshi! Don't try to act like you're cool when we both know I run this school!" Kuwabara interrupted, getting in Yusuke's face.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Yusuke smirked.

"Okay that's it! You and me, right here, right now!" Kuwabara rolled back his sleeves.

"Enough you two," Keiko stepped in between them. "We're going to be late, and that's no way to act in front of Fay. You're supposed to be working together to protect her."

"On their good days," Fay said waving it aside. Actually she found it entertaining to see them bicker like an old married couple. She chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Yusuke demanded.

"Oh nothing," She returned innocently. He didn't look convinced but Keiko urged them to hurry and they made it to class with thirteen seconds to spare.

The teacher made her introduce herself to the class; something Fay had seen teachers in her school do to the poor new fools. In the past, Fay was pretty sure she'd say she didn't feel like it, but Keiko looked at her with expectation and Fay found she didn't want to disappoint her new friend…so soon. So Fay introduced herself quickly and sat on the desk next to Yusuke, since apparently no one else wanted it and Keiko had the other.

Fay managed well enough, until the teacher made them write, then she started to panic. She definitely didn't know how to write in Japanese. Resigned to explaining that to her new teacher, Fay started writing in English…and wondered if she could somehow manage to bottle up or reproduce whatever power she had that made her understand and be able to write the language.

'I could make millions of off this stuff.' She mused letting whatever magic it was take over her hand once more as she wrote down a letter on the journal. Fay could already see the headlines: Girl invents awesome translation potion. All bow down to her coolness.

She silently giggled, shaking her head at the thought. Even if she could do it, she'd rather stay away from the limelight considering her circumstances. Something hit her, and Fay looked down at the scrunched piece of paper that landed on her desk. Shooting Yusuke a look, she opened it and read it.

'What's so funny, huh?' Like she was gonna tell him. Fay wrote a word and passed it back. He shot her an annoyed glare and she smirked.

Lunchtime was a welcome break but before Fay could stand and follow wherever Yusuke was heading, she was surrounded…by girls.

"Keiko says you're staying with her." One of the four girls said.

"Yeah." Fay answered a little uncertain of why they wanted to know. 'I am kind of living with her.'

"I've never seen eyes like yours, was it from your mom or dad's side of the family?"

"Dad's." she answered another girl.

"What shampoo do you use; your hair's really nice." Another asked. "Umm…it's foreign, I gotta go." Fay grabbed her lunch and managed to break through their ranks, running out into the hall and looking around. 'Now where did he go?'

"If you're looking for Urameshi he probably went off to the roof." Kuwabara answered as he passed.

"Is that where you're heading?" she asked, following after him. "Yeah, it'll be quiet up there. I guess that's why he likes it."

"Okay, I can use quiet. What about Keiko?" Fay asked.

"She'll probably spend her lunch in a meeting with some class representatives or something." He answered heading up the stairs.

'Guess that's not surprising.' Fay thought. Keiko did look like the responsible type.

Like Kuwabara said, they found Yusuke eating lunch up on the roof. "Managed to escape the girls, I see." He said after a bite of his food.

"No thanks to you. I thought you were supposed to be protecting me." Fay sat down next to him and opened her lunch bag.

"I'm supposed to protect you against bad guys with powers. High school girls are not in my job description."

"Well they should." Fay grumbled. "What did they want with me anyway? It's not like I'm anything speci…okay but they don't know that."

"We don't get a lot of foreigners in the school and you're the first in that class, they were probably just curious." Kuwabara explained.

"What Kuwabara said." Yusuke mumbled as he chewed.

"Thank you for explaining that, I am so reassured now." She said dryly and took a bite of her sub. If that was the case then she'd just have to hide up here with Yusuke until they forgot she existed…or at least didn't care anymore.

"Hey, Fay. I've been wondering. You've been up for days now but no one from the factions has shown up. They didn't even wait a day last time, so what's up this time?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself." Yusuke added.

Fay shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was the larger drop of energy in me or maybe they just lost track of me since we left the U.S. whatever happened I'm not complaining."

"Well neither are we." Yusuke muttered.

"If we're gonna get a few days break then I'll see you guys after school, I'm gonna go see some friends." Kuwabara finished his lunch and stood, heading inside.

"See yah later, Kuwabara." Fay called after him.

"So you're really not worried about them being so quiet?" Yusuke asked her.

Fay leaned back against the wall and looked up at the cloudy sky. "It's not that I'm not worried, it's just that…well, it's a relief not having to deal with them, even if it is for a few days." She turned to Yusuke and smiled. "Who knows, maybe they just didn't expect you guys to be so strong and are rethinking their strategy. After all they are calling you warriors."

"Hmm…maybe you're right." Finished with his lunch Yusuke leaned back against the wall, hands behind his head and yawned. "Don't bother waking me up when the bell rings. I think I'm just gonna wait for class to be over. I'll meet you at the front gate."

"It's your funeral." Fay said clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle her own yawn. She raised her knees and rested her head on her legs, her eyes half closed. 'I still have fifteen minutes, I'll just take a quick…' her eyes closed and she fell asleep, neither teen noticed the dark figure watching from a far of building.

"Are you telling me, that both of you fell asleep on the roof and didn't hear the bell ring?" Keiko asked as they joined her at the gate after school.

"Well she was supposed to have stayed awake." Yusuke pointed at Fay with his thump.

"You can't blame me for you!" she protested. "You'd already told me you were going to skip."

Keiko turned to Yusuke who took a step back. "Well…I was just so sleepy." He tried explaining then turned it on her. "And besides, I wasn't the only one." Keiko turned to Fay who tried hiding behind Yusuke. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep…well I did but I thought the school bell would be loud enough to wake me."

Keiko sighted and turned back to Yusuke. "Fay woke up early and I could tell she didn't get much sleep," covertly, Fay smiled smugly up at Yusuke. "But you, Yusuke got enough sleep. The only reason you woke up that early was because you wanted breakfast."

"Yeah, Yusuke. Don't try to dump it all on someone else." Kuwabara said as he joined them.

"Oh great, you gonna start in on me too, Kuwabara? Cause I can beat you." Yusuke threatened.

"Try it." Kuwabara dared him.

"It really isn't Yusuke's fault. I just…kinda messed up. I'm sorry." Fay said deciding Yusuke had taken enough rap. She'd save the rest for later.

"See!" Yusuke said. "Even she admits it."

"That's not the point, Yusuke." Keiko said turning to go back into the school. "You should know better than to skip class. At least Fay takes responsibility." Fay shrugged when Yusuke shot her a look. She'd done her best.

"Where are you going Keiko? Did you forget something?" Fay asked.

"Oh." Keiko turned back to them. "No, I have a meeting to attend so I can't walk home with you guys but I'll be there later."

"So what, did you just wait out here so you could scold me?" Yusuke grumbled.

"That's right, so you better start showing up for classes, Yusuke. I'll see you guys later." She waved goodbye and headed back into the school.

Yusuke shot Fay a look and she quickly turned away whistling.

"This is your fault, you know."

"Ha!" Fay turned and started down the street. "Even if I hadn't fallen asleep Keiko would still have dug into you for missing class."

"Yeah. Yeah." Yusuke dismissed it.

"Here you two. Don't make me have to carry your homework again." Kuwabara handed both of them papers.

"Skipping class should mean I don't have to worry about homework." Yusuke groused throwing the papers into his bag.

"Shows how much you know." Fay said. "I could tell you tales." She said looking through the papers.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Well you know how I skipped those classes?"

"Yeah." He answered.

"I practically missed a mountain of homework and I still had to do it, even if it was late. I couldn't stop dreaming of numbers and history dates for a week afterward."

"Now that's scary." Yusuke supposed he should be thankful his teachers were so cautious around him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to deal with that kind of mess." Kuwabara and Yusuke stopped and looked back when they realized Fay had stopped.

"Something wrong?" Yusuke asked.

Fay looked up at them. "I found it; I mean I know what helped me understand your language at first." Curious, the two walked back to her.

"What was it?" Kuwabara asked looking down at her homework. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Fay took the crest from about her neck and set it in Yusuke's hand. "Now look at the paper."

Frowning he took it from her and stared down at the words. "I don't- what the!" His eyes widened as he looked over what had appeared. "This is great!" He turned to Fay. "Do you need this anymore?"

Fay looked down at the paper, frowned, took out a pencil and wrote down something. "No, I guess I don't. Either whatever powers I'm supposed to have is duplicating it or the crest leaves some kind of lingering translation spell." Which was great, but why would it give her answers to her homework? It was like she held the ultimate cheat sheet.

Yusuke grinned. "Okay, then I'll look after this until we find the rest of the pieces."

Fay turned to Yusuke. "I know what you're trying to do. That's cheating, Yusuke. Hand it over." She tried reaching for it but Yusuke raised his arm up. "Ah come on. I won't lose it. I just need it to finish my homework."

"I don't get it, what are you talking about?" Kuwabara asked.

Yusuke dangled the chain from his raised hand as Fay tried to get it. "When you hold the crest the answers to the homework appear." He explained.

"And using it for homework is cheating, Yusuke! Even I've never done that!" Fay said trying to make him lower his arm.

"Are you serious?" Kuwabara grabbed the crest form Yusuke and took out his homework.

"Hey!" Both Yusuke and Fay complained. "That's mine!" The two glared at each other then turned on Kuwabara. "Give it to me, Kuwabara. You know it's mine." Fay said trying to grab it.

"I need it more than you do, and you know it. Hand it over, Kuwabara." Yusuke grabbed Kuwabara in a chokehold and reached for the crest. "Will you quit it Urameshi, I was trying to write down the answers!"

"You can write them down when I'm done with my homework." Yusuke half yelled as he reached for the crest.

"And I told you it's mine and you shouldn't use it to cheat...unless you're really pressed for time!" Fay snapped and jumped to reach for the crest.

'Got it!'

"What are you three doing?"

The trio turned as Kurama's voice reached them. Yusuke let go of Kuwabara, who straightened massaging his neck and glaring at Yusuke.

"Oh nothing." Yusuke said stepping over to Fay. "I was just telling Fay that I should hold on to the crest, for safe keeping."

"No way, Urameshi! I should hold on to it!" Kuwabara protested.

"Fay has not lost it nor has it been in any danger while in her hold. Why the sudden need to safeguard it?" Kurama asked.

"Uhh…well you see…" Yusuke scratched his cheek. He already knew what would happen when Kurama found about the crest's trick. 'Great, there goes my gold ticket flying.'

"I see." Kurama said after Fay explained. "It…is interesting." He let go of the crest and the answers on the sheet disappeared. Now he understood why they'd been fighting. He turned to Fay. "Since you no longer seem to need this, do you mind if I safeguard it until it is needed?"

Fay shook her head willing herself not to step away from him. "No, go ahead. Until it's complete I doubt I'll need it." He smiled and placed the crest into his pocket. "Shall we go then?" she nodded falling into step beside him.

"But…I needed that." Yusuke's shoulders sagged. 'Oh well, guess its back to skipping homework.'

"If you need help with your homework I will be happy to assist you, Yusuke." Kurama said over his shoulder.

"I'll take that help." Kuwabara said catching up with them. "There's this one problem I just can't get."

The doorbell rang around seven o'clock that night and Shizuru opened it, not all that surprised to see them outside.

"Sorry we're so late, Koenma decided to come along at the last moment." Botan greeted cheerfully and walked in followed by Koenma in his teenage form, Keiko, Yukina and Genkai.

"Hmm, something smells good." Koenma said sniffing.

"Fay's finishing up with dinner." Shizuru answered.

"I hope there's enough for everyone, I forgot to call in and let her know." Botan said making her way to the kitchen.

"I'm sure there will." Shizuru answered following the group.

"So, where's that dimwitted student of mine?" Genkai asked.

"He's upstairs finishing his homework." She answered. 'After procrastinating for hours.' Shizuru added silently.

"At least he's doing something useful with his time." Genkai said stepping into the large dining room.

"Amalthea was right, this house was a good choice." Koenma said looking about. 'I should thank her next time I talk to her.' The Oracle was a lot easier to talk to than Mary Anne, maybe he'd just have her be the in between next time.

"Well, where's this girl everyone keeps talking about?" Genkai asked.

"Oh that's right, please come this way." Botan led the way to the large kitchen where Fay was handing Kuwabara plates.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara exclaimed happily catching sight of her.

"Hello, Kazuma. It's nice to see you again." Yukina greeted.

Kuwabara turned to run to her but was stopped as Fay intercepted him, hands on hips. "Take care of the plates first and then you can say hello. And don't drop them!"

Genkai smirked as Kuwabara took off running for the dining room. 'At least it looks like she can handle herself around them.'

"Fay, I'd like you to meet Koenma, I suppose you could call him Yusuke's boss, and this is Genkai. Yusuke's Master." Botan introduced them. "Genkai, Koenma, this is Fay."

Fay bowed. "Hello, it's nice to meet you two. I've heard a lot about you from everyone. And thank you very much for sending Yusuke and everyone else to find me." Fay directed the last to Koenma.

"It's nice to meet you too, Fay. Oh and about the boss thing, there's no suppose about it. I am Yusuke's boss."

Fay sweat dropped. 'So this is Koenma.' She could see the pacifier… 'And that's why Yusuke calls him that but…why does he even wear it?' Not that she was gonna ask.

"As for them protecting you, it is imperative that none of the factions get their hands on your power, so there really is nothing to thank me for, however I do appreciate it."

"Don't let him intimidate you; he's only like this when he's in this form." Botan reassured her. Fay had no idea what that was supposed to mean but she caught Koenma sending Botan a warning look.

"Give me your hand." Fay turned to Genkai as she held out her hand.

"Are you sure?" Fay asked. "From what I've been told of you, you're a strong psychic it might-"

"I am and I can handle myself little girl. Give me your hand," Genkai persisted.

Hesitantly Fay took a hold of Genkai's hand. She expected her to do as Shizuru had done before but instead her grip tightened and her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Well, how strong is her power?" Koenma asked after a few seconds of silence.

Genkai let go of Fay's hand and turned to Koenma. "Shizuru's right. She has more power than anyone could hold and remain sane." Genkai turned a considering look at Fay. "Well, someone who wasn't created to hold it."

'Woho! I'm not going insane.' Fay thought wryly. "However even a vessel should have some kind of power, however small. What powers do you currently possess?"

"Perhaps that conversation should wait until after dinner." Kurama joined them, Hiei at his side.

"Yeah grandma, do you expect anyone to answer on an empty stomach?" Yusuke walked in, Keiko and Puu by his side.

"I hear you finally decided to study." Genkai turned to look at Yusuke as he joined them.

Yusuke snorted. "I was blackmailed into it but that'll only work once." He shot Fay a look.

"Yusuke! No one should have to black mail you into doing your homework." Keiko scolded.

"Well now that we're all here why don't we start serving dinner. Everyone can go into the dining room and I'll help Fay out here." Botan said cheerfully.

"Wait, I can help too." Keiko handed Puu over to Yusuke and entered the kitchen.

"I'll help too; it'll be faster this way." Shizuru joined the trio in the kitchen while everyone else headed for the dining room.

"Hiei, thank you very much for helping pick out the kimono." Yukina said stopping by Hiei.

"What about me?" Kuwabara rushed in grinning down at her. "When I saw the ribbon, I thought about you my love." He said staring deeply into her eyes.

Yukina smiled. "Yes, it's very nice. Thank you Kuwabara."

'Poor dope.' Fay thought watching their interaction. She could already see what everyone else saw, and she was no expert. Fay could also see Kurama's hand on Hiei's shoulder, probably keeping him from knocking Kuwabara of his feet. 'Hmm…' she thought turning to open the oven. 'Maybe I could turn Botan's attention to them.' It was worth a try…then again, Hiei would probably kill them both.

R&R. Till next chapter^^

**_Next chapter preview _**

"And you were going to tell us, when?"

'This…this power is inside me?'

"I think we better get inside..."

"But they say it's forbidden, I can't…"


	29. Chapter 29: A Glimpse of Power

CHAPTER 28: A Glimpse of Power

After dinner, Genkai insisted they step outside, and curious as to what she was about, the others followed.

"Come here girl." Genkai motioned for Fay to join her in the middle of the lawn.

'I suppose she means me.' With an inner sigh, Fay joined her as the lamplights came on and full night fell. "Now tell me, what kind of powers do you posses?" Genkai asked.

She heard a snort from behind and fought not to turn around and throw something at Yusuke. He was right anyway. "Well…I'm…good with languages." She said somewhat lamely.

"That's very nice for you but I'm not asking about your academic achievements." Genkai said impatiently.

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. I mean my powers…well so far, that's just it…Oh, and I can recover from mortal wounds, though I've been told that was a two shot deal and has expired."

Genkai's eyes narrowed on her. "Are you telling me that you posses that much power inside of you and you can't use a single drop of it?" She sounded disbelieving.

"Like I said, since I…err…found out about being a vessel, I've gotten really good at languages." Of course that could also have been the crest giving her a boost but…yeah she'd leave that out.

"Knowing how to speak perfect French isn't going to help you in a fight!" Fay took a step back at Genkai's stern tone.

"Fay is new to this, perhaps in time-" Kurama was cut off as Genkai spoke in the same tone. "Perhaps later, yes but what about if she doesn't have a later; if anyone manages to capture her before some useful power awakens she'll be defenseless!"

Fay had such a big urge to bow and apologize…what for she wasn't exactly sure.

"Yes, but-"

"It's okay, Kurama." Fay smiled at him over her shoulder. "Master Genkai's right. I suppose I should learn how to use some type of…I don't know offensive power."

"Don't you think Genkai's being a little harsh on her?" Keiko whispered to Shizuru.

"Maybe, but this is her way. Genkai's trying to help Fay and she may be one of the few who can."

"I guess…" Keiko turned back to watch as Genkai spoke.

"Well at least you're willing to learn," Genkai continued. "Have you ever had any martial arts training?"

'I haven't thought of that in years,' Fay nodded. "Yeah. I took five different classes."

"And you were going to tell us, when?" Yusuke demanded from behind her.

"Quiet, Yusuke!" Genkai snapped, "Alright and what did you learn?"

~This is the kind of information she should give us early on~ Hiei scowled.

~I'm sure she has a good reason for not telling us~ Kurama sent. ~We also never thought to ask her such a question~

~That's beside the point, if she can fight, why didn't she?~ Hiei shot back.

Kurama was silent. In truth, he too wanted to know the answer to that. The two turned back to the conversation between Genkai and Fay, waiting for the answer.

Fay pursed her lips, tucked her hands behind her back and without intending began to rock back and forth on her feet. "I…uhh…learned that breaking bones hurt."

The group behind her sweat dropped. "I think everyone knows that broken bones hurt! Didn't you learn anything useful in those five classes!?" Yusuke demanded.

She whirled around to glare at him. "For your information I only stayed in those five classes for one to two days!"

"And why exactly did you quit!" Fay quickly turned back to Genkai.

"It's not like I wanted to quit but on the fifth go my mom said enough was enough and she wasn't going to end up being sued or having to go to my funeral at such a young age." Fay explained defensively.

"What the hell does that mean?" This came from Hiei who scowled at her back.

"I'd like to know the meaning of it myself," Koenma commented.

'Here it goes again.' Fay thought trying not to blush. "Okay…so when I was a kid my dad convinced my mom to let us take martial arts lessons, to you know, be able to protect ourselves. It's not like I wasn't excited about it, but…err…I ended up breaking my partner's arm."

Genkai narrowed her eyes. "How?"

Fay shrugged. "Beats me. He came at me a little too strong and I just reacted by grabbing his arm. I was scared so I closed my eyes; next thing I heard was a crack and the kid falling to the ground with a cry." The teacher had told her parents they'd be best of looking for another instructor.

"And the other times?" Genkai prompted when Fay fell into silence.

"The second time I broke the kid's leg, I hit the ground and…just kicked out." Never knew how that had happened but the instructor had followed in the first's footsteps. "The third time the girl ended up with a neck brace-"

"Are you serious?" Yusuke shouted at her back. Fay contemplated throwing something at him…remembered it would most likely not hit him and continued reluctantly. "The fourth time I ended up with a broken arm." She hadn't been able to skate for a while which had sucked. "The fifth time…well, I think the teacher had helped it along with picking up heavy boxes the day before but anyway…he was trying to show me how to throw someone over their shoulder and…I guess that was over his limit." Contrary to her brother's teasing, she had not weighted a ton!

"After that it started going around that I was the 'cursed girl' and no one would teach me, so my parents pretty much gave up on the whole thing, as far as I was concerned."

Behind her there was silence, before her Genkai watched her with narrowed eyes. 'I suppose it must have something to do with her power.' Though what she hadn't yet grasped.

"So you really don't know how to fight, and whatever powers you have are dormant."

"Pretty much," Fay shrugged, thinking that it would be nice to have some kind of useful power to protect herself with.

"Well, I guess we'll let's see if we can fix that. Sit down in the lotus position."

Fay hesitated but at a look from Genkai, followed her orders not really understanding what was going on.

"I'm sure you know what meditation is, we'll be trying that now. Close your eyes and clear your mind."

It took her three tries but Fay finally managed to clear her mind…passably.

"Everyone else, keep quiet. Fay, concentrate on my voice alone. Find the core of your power and grasp it. Feel it in you and bring it out through your palms."

Fay followed the instructions, feeling just a little ridiculous but to her surprise it was easy enough to find what she sought. Mentally she grasped at the power, feeling as if she was grasping at threads made of cool water.

Fay could feel her hands thrumming, and although she wanted to stop and scratch the feeling away she stopped herself…barely.

"Now open your eyes, slowly, and keep a hold of your concentration or this will turn ugly."

Swallowing, Fay nodded and opened her eyes. 'What the-!' her eyes widened as she realized she floated inches from the grass, no longer in a lotus position, and in her hands some kind of aquamarine sphere of power whirled. She wavered almost falling.

"Concentrate!" Genkai snapped.

Fay snapped to attention at her words and concentrated on holding on to the power in her hands.

Wind whirled about her bringing with it a scent that reminded her of waterfalls. It also made her way to nervous. She was barely managing to keep herself in control and not run away screaming. 'This…this power is inside me?' She thought her wide eyes on the sphere of power rotating between her hands. It was like holding a small bomb in her hands. Fay did not want to be around if it hit the ground. The fact that she was the one holding it sent shivers down her spine.

Shizuru raised her arm up over her forehead, squinting as the wind lashed around them. She wasn't the only one; the others were bracing themselves against it as well. 'I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this.' "Keiko!"

Keiko looked up at Shizuru as the wind whipped about her skirts. "Yes?"

"I think we better get inside. Botan, Yukina, you too!"

The girls nodded turning to go back inside as Botan slid the back door open.

'How can it be so much?' Koenma thought, biting down on his pacifier. This was even worse than he had thought, if anyone managed to get their hands on her power, well he didn't want to think about the damage...or the paperwork.

'Okay I'm impressed.' Yusuke thought covering his face against the wind. "Nice demonstration, could you turn down the wind though!"

'So, this is her power.' If he'd known about her before he'd met Yusuke…Hiei wasn't so sure he wouldn't have gone after Fay himself. Now however… "I think it's time you return that power to where it came from, before it blows us all up!" he shouted over the wind.

"Hiei's right. I can already feel it increasing. Fay, control it!" Kurama called to her. He could see her figure wavering, as if she were beginning to be weighted down. He took a step forward, determined to get to her.

"I'm trying! But I don't really have much control over it!" Her hands were starting to burn, as if she'd slid down a rope too quickly, and whatever had made her float had abandoned her, she could barely keep on her feet.

"It's your power!" Genkai half shouted. "Return it into yourself!"

_"She mustn't attempt it!"_

Kuwabara whirled around when he heard the voice. "What the!" He looked to where Fay stood then back at the ghostly figure. 'She…I remember her from before!'

It had been that first morning when Fay had woken up. She'd been speaking about what that werewolf had been doing and for a second had looked like that… 'What is she some type of illusion?'

_"Stop her now!" _the figure shouted though it only seemed as if he and Shizuru, now behind the rattling glass, could see her.

Kuwabara hesitated but he couldn't sense anything evil from the ghost so…'Okay, I'll try.' He turned and started toward Genkai and Fay. "I don't think it's such a good idea-"

He was interrupted by Fay's scream.

Fay had been attempting to bring this power back into herself, even if she had a few doubts about trying it. However the moment she felt the power begin to flow back into her, pain blossomed inside her body and she screamed. She could hear the voices of her friends calling her name, but the new voices inside her head were stronger. It was all she could do not to let go of the sphere as the voices began to echo not only in her head but about them as well, sounding as if they chanted.

Genkai narrowed her eyes against the wind and took a step toward the girl. This, she hadn't anticipated. "What are these voices? And keep a hold of that power, girl!"

"I'm trying!" Fay bit out through gritted teeth. "But they say it's forbidden, I can't…" she gasped as the pain increased. Her whole body felt as if it were threatening to come apart, as if there was just too much…something inside her. As she tried to keep her concentration she felt something wet slowly slide down her right cheek but ignored it.

"Concentrate! What do they mean by forbidden?" Genkai recalled her attention.

"I can't…it's not…I know that but I'm following…" Fay hit her knees and looked at Genkai, pain in her eyes. "They say what has been called cannot be returned, I can't return this power into myself. It's forbidden, and it's tearing me apart!" she cried out.

"So what do you suppose we do with it then!?" She heard Hiei shout.

'It's dangerous but at this point I don't think there's another way. I hope it works.' Genkai took the last few steps to reach Fay and stretched out her hand. "In this moment I am your Master, you answer to me alone! You will let me take this power into myself!"

"Genkai no!" Yusuke shouted struggling forward. "If it's too much then-"

"Not now Yusuke!" Genkai interrupted the teen, her attention on Fay. "Do as I say!"

The wind suddenly died down, the voices receded and the girl before Genkai stood, controlling and compressing the power she held in her hands. Aquamarine light made her eyes glow, eclipsing the pupils as she held out her hands. _"As you wish,"_ the girl spoke.

"Genkai!" Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed forward but they were too late. Genkai had already placed her hand on the sphere and as they watched, the power snaked up her arm and into her skin surrounding her in the same aquamarine glow, and when it finally died down, Genkai stood before them in her younger form looking down at her hands. 'It's almost as if I've regained my spirit or but the feeling is different...' Almost as if she rested beneath the cool shade of a tree.

The group watched her with wide eyed surprise until Fay collapsed. Hiei caught her before she hit the ground, handing her to Kurama when he knelt beside him.

"How is she?" Yusuke asked leaning over Kurama's shoulder.

"She's hurt; her cheek appears to be bleeding and her hands are badly scraped and bleeding as well." Kurama gently took a hold of her right wrist turning it so they could see her palms. He also wanted to know how she had fared within. 'That kind of power…if she was not meant to wield it, how much harm could it have done, and the wound on her cheek…' It looked more like something that would appear on pottery after being damaged.

Yusuke winced in sympathy as he caught sight of her hands. 'I guess it could have been worse…much worse.' Still her hands would need healing.

"I'll heal her." Yukina knelt beside Kurama placing a hand over Fay's bleeding cheek and letting her energy close the wound before turning her attention to Fay's hands.

"Here, I brought some bandages." Botan crouched next to Yukina handing some of the bandages to Kurama while she unrolled the rest.

Koenma paused near the group, observing the sleeping girl before joining Genkai. "How do you feel?" he asked worriedly.

"Fine, more than fine; I haven't had this type of energy in a long time and I can't seem to return to my older form." Not only that, she felt a…new awareness. One that told Genkai that they could expect someone showing up before the sun rose.

Koenma closed his eyes, looking relieved. He'd been worried about what kind of effect this type of power would have on Genkai. He opened his eyes and turned back to study the sleeping girl once more. 'Definitely much worse than I first thought.' If he messed this up, his father would give him a spanking he'd never forget. Koenma turned away, walking across the lawn to the sliding door. "Botan."

Botan looked up pausing in wrapping the bandages around Fay's hands. "Yes?"

"I'm returning to Spirit World. I'll increase the search for the crest. Hopefully we'll stumble upon it there." If it wasn't in Spirit World there were only two other choices left; it was either in a completely different world or in Demon World. For everyone's sake he hoped that was not the case. "Until then, I'll leave things here to you. If anything new comes up inform me immediately."

"Yes Sir." Botan responded and returned to her task.

"That should do it." Yukina removed her hand from above Fay's left palm, glad to see the bleeding had stopped and the skin didn't look so torn anymore. "I'll heal her right hand now."

Botan kept Fay's palm up while Yukina concentrated on the healing. It was only once they were done that they realized Keiko and Shizuru had joined them.

"She'll be okay, right?" Although Fay's palms were looking better now, Keiko couldn't help worry.

"I'm sure she will, she just needs rest." Shizuru assured her. Unlike most of them, she wasn't looking down at Fay but at the doorway, where she and Kuwabara had spotted that ghostly figure. 'Who could that have been? She looked so much like Fay but…older.' Shizuru didn't really know what to make of the ghost and now she was nowhere to be seen.

"If Fay needs rest we can expect a two to seven day wait," Yusuke straightened relieved that her wounds had been taken care of and now wondering if they would have to wait that long again. "At least that's how it's been in the past."

"I don't think we'll have to wait that long this time around," Genkai walked past them heading for the back door. "And you're one to talk Yusuke, I remember you snoring away for hours."

"Hey, I had an excuse!" Yusuke defended himself, "Besides at least I kept up a commentary now and then, Fay doesn't even do that! And when she was sick doesn't count!"

"Don't pat yourself on the back, Urameshi! It was annoying!" Kuwabara turned from his search to him. "I lost a match because of your dumb commentary!"

"Enough you two. We have more important business to attend too,' Genkai stalled whatever retort Yusuke was about to make. "Kurama bring her into the living room. Boys, we'll be staying there tonight. I have a feeling that we'll have company in the next few hours."

"I take it you're talking about the factions." Unlike everyone else Hiei hadn't hovered over Fay but kept his distance, covertly keeping an eye on the healing.

"Who else," Yusuke muttered following Kuwabara. 'Guess vacation time's over.' He stopped at the door, waiting for Kurama to go in, Fay in his arms. He expected the red head to place Fay in one of the living room sofas but instead he sat down with her in his arms. "Uhh…Kurama?"

"Yes, Yusuke?" Kurama replied impassively.

Surprised at Kurama's tone, Yusuke stepped back. 'Something wrong Kurama?"

"We should have been more careful, we know-"

"Yes, and for that I apologize," Genkai cut in. "I didn't expect for the rules that govern her to be so unforgiving and strict. However this has given us needed information." Genkai took a seat across from Kurama, her gaze on Fay. "Now we know that she has no offensive ability when it comes to herself, wither she has any defensive abilities-"

"We will not risk her-"

"I've always found you to have a broader view of the picture Kurama," Genkai interrupted him. "I don't suggest you let your feelings get in the way of that view now."

Kurama turned his gaze from Genkai. 'I should not be surprised, I've always known Genkai to be more perceptive than most.'

He also knew that Genkai was correct once more; however…he turned to look down at Fay. "Has she not suffered enough?" he spoke softly.

Yusuke looked from Genkai to Kurama. He half got what they were talking about, but the rest… 'Wait…what feelings are they talking about?' Yusuke glanced at Hiei but he just turned away.

Botan had directed the girls upstairs so he couldn't look there for help, and Kuwabara looked just as confused as he was. "Okay, feelings aside," Yusuke muttered. "I hope you're not thinking of getting Fay to do her little wind show again because next time we might not be so lucky."

"I'm with Urameshi on this, oh and by the way has anyone seen a ghost version of Fay around here?" Kuwabara asked looking about.

"Do you ever listen to yourself?" Hiei scoffed.

"Shut up shorty! I know what I'm talking about!" Kuwabara exclaimed turning to glare at him.

"Enough, Kuwabara. We'll speak of that later," Genkai recalled his attention. "And no, Yusuke, there are more ways than one to bring out that girl's power. For the moment however we have more important matters to attend too. We'll be sleeping in shifts. Hiei, Kurama, you'll be first,' she turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "I suggest you two get some rest. You may very well need it."

"Do you really think Fay will be alright?" Yukina asked. Unable to sleep the four girls had gathered in Botan's room.

"I'm worried about her too." Keiko tightened her hold on Puu. "It sounded like she was in a lot of pain."

"Don't you worry Yukina, you too Keiko. Fay's gotten much worse wounds and survived. I'm sure all she needs is some rest and she'll be in tip top shape by tomorrow." Or so Botan hoped.

"Worrying about it won't do Fay any good. Besides, Genkai didn't look all that worried." Shizuru reassured the girls. "And you healed her yourself Yukina, did you sense anything else wrong with her?"

"Well…' Yukina thought back on the healing. "No, I didn't."

"So there, there's no reason for us to worry about it." Her eyes went to the closed window. "What I'm worried about is of whatever's coming this way. I have a feeling it won't end well."

'Great, now I'm even more worried,' Botan climbed of the bed. "I'll be right back, I'm just gonna go take a quick peek downstairs and see how she's doing." Smiling, Botan slipped out of the room and down the stairs. "Any change?" she asked.

"No, but the way Fay sleeps, it's not surprising," Yusuke yawned. He'd been trying to get some sleep for the last half an hour and only now was he just getting to the part where he actually felt like sleeping.

"I'm sure she'll wake soon," Genkai turned to Botan. "Is there something you wanted to tell us Botan?"

"I wanted to check on Fay myself, oh and Shizuru did say she was getting a bad feeling, and as we all know she's usually right about these things." Botan looked towards Kuwabara and sweat dropped. Unlike the rest of them he was definitely getting some rest, his snores were getting louder by the minute.

"We'll keep it in mind Botan." Genkai assured her, turning back to look out the window. "Anything else?"

"I…guess not," Botan turned to check on Fay. Kurama had finally placed her on the sofa but hovered nearby looking almost…guilty. Before Botan could say anything to him, she noticed Fay stirring.

Kurama was by her side in an instant, cautioning her to be careful as she sat up. "Are you well, does anything hurt?" he asked sounding anxious.

Fay took a moment to evaluate how she felt, looking down at her bandaged palms. "Besides some stiffness in my hands…I think I'm fine."

"Well that's a relief. Now I can go tell the girls to stop worrying about you." Botan herself felt better now that Fay had woken up. "I'll just go let the girls know." She started up the stairs then froze when a sudden silence descended.

"They're here!" Genkai exclaimed.

Hiei was quickly out the door, followed by Yusuke and Genkai. Kuwabara was a little slower, jumping of the couch as his senses warned him of the battle field. "Guys they're…!" He looked around finally noticing that only Fay and Kurama were still there. Botan had rushed up the stairs not long after the battle field went up.

"We know, I suggest we follow them. Fay, stay behind us." Kurama cautioned.

Fay nodded getting to her feet and following the two at a slower pace. 'I guess that power I brought out must've been like a signal to them.' Well it wasn't like they wouldn't have found her sooner or later.

Botan ran toward her room but came to a sudden halt as her door opened and Shizuru and Yukina burst out. "Keiko's gone!" Shizuru exclaimed.

Puu flew out of the room, looking panicked. "What?" Botan caught Puu and looked into her room. Sure enough Keiko wasn't there.

"I had this really odd feeling, as if I were just pushed and when I turned Keiko was gone," Shizuru explained.

"Oh…right. Keiko's a normal human." Botan sighted in relief and turned to Shizuru and Yukina. "We're inside something called a battle field; apparently normal humans can't see it and they can't enter it, which means that Keiko must still be in the house, just not in the same space as us."

"So she's okay?" Yukina asked.

Botan nodded, "The battle field goes up whenever someone from the Factions shows up to try and take Fay away. The guys just went- Shizuru where are you going?" Botan called after her.

Shizuru glanced back. "If the guys are gonna be fighting, someone's going to need to stay with Fay, since we're in here we might as well be it." She turned and ran for the stairs.

"I can help heal anyone who gets hurt," Yukina added running after Shizuru.

'Well…I guess there's no point in arguing with the eager,' Botan thought. 'I just hope they don't get hurt.' She started after them.

"Shizuru? Yukina? Botan?" Keiko walked out of the room and made her way downstairs. 'No one's here.' Where had all of them gone? Not even Puu was around anymore. And why was she the only one left? 'I hope everyone's okay.' All she could do now was wait and hope they came back safely.

_AN: Now and then I play around with drawing (not the best but not the worse either) and I decided to try my hand at making a picture of Youko/Kurama and Fay. I've placed the link in my profile, hopefully it shows up sometime soon._

_Till the next chapter. R&R _

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_Okay…a flower, is that supposed to do something?"_

"_The dragons now have The Right."_

"_There's no need to look so worried, Kurama."_

"_I won't let you die! Kuwabara would never forgive me!"_


	30. Chapter 30: Kidnapped

CHAPTER 29: Kidnapped

They appeared on the lamp lit road. The shortest, and female member, stood in the middle. She looked to be in her early twenties, had short cropped red hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. She wore a plate of golden armor while her hands and arms were covered by long gauntlets. A long red skirt fell past her knees, half covering the armor boots she wore, while her right hand rested on the hilt of a sheathed long sword. Four white wings rested on her back.

The white hair man that stood on her left looked to be in his late twenties and dressed completely different from her. He wore a long dark crimson almost black trench coat, a matching silk shirt and pants. His left eye matched his clothing while the right was a light brown. Unlike the woman, he only had two white wings.

The man on her right looked about the same age; he had deep black-blue layered hair highlighted at the edges by purple, white hair locks at the front and pale golden eyes. Skull earrings dangled from his ears and he wore a long black trench coat that matched the rest of his clothes down to the rocker boots he wore. Unlike the other two, his wings were as black as ebony.

'Looks like the circus is back in town,' Yusuke thought looking the three over. They didn't look as if they were here for a fight…well the girl did but the other two…looked like they lost their way to some freak fashion show. 'That would be embarrassing, losing to those two.' Not that losing to the girl would be any less embarrassing.

"Keep on your guard Yusuke," Genkai reminded him.

"Yeah you don't have to remind me." He already knew that appearances could be deceiving.

"Since we know what you three are here for, let me make this faster by saying no,' Hiei unsheathed his blade, "And taking your heads!" He dashed forward and was met in the middle by the female who parried his katana with her sword and pushed back. "Learn manners, little demon," She spoke softly.

Hiei gritted his teeth, "No one tells me how to behave, especially the likes of you!" He pushed forward and found himself almost tripping when the female disappeared in a flurry of feathers.

"Behind you!" Kurama warned. Hiei turned in time to see Kurama's rosewhip wrap about her blade, stopping her downward strike.

'I wish he would learn some patience,' Genkai thought as she watched Hiei turn about. 'His rushing in might one day get him killed.'

"Shouldn't we go in and help?" Kuwabara asked standing on her left.

"No," she answered simply. 'But…' Kuwabara looked over at the other two Malaika. 'Why aren't they helping, she's a girl so shouldn't they be protecting her or something?' As he watched, she disappeared once more and reappeared beside her two silent companions. Hiei stepped back, joining Kurama.

"We'll play it their way for the moment," Genkai stepped forward and the trio turned to look at her.

"You are the one who dared to call on power meant for our leader?" the girl asked.

"The power Fay holds is more than anyone person should wield, the power I now hold inside myself is nothing more than a drop, and it does not belong to your leader."

The girl's eyes narrowed in anger and all but Kuwabara tensed for attack. 'I'm taking on one of the guys, if they make a move I'll attack. Genkai can take on the girl.'

Instead of attacking, the girl tilted her head in a bow. "I am called Hakel, beside me,' she motioned to the white hair man. "Is Ashriel, the other is known as Ezekiel. We already know who most of you are." Her gaze moved from one to the other then settled on Genkai. "You however, have not been named."

Genkai gave her a half smile. "My name is Genkai." She offered no other explanation and Hakel didn't seem to need it. She gave a nod and pointed to Hiei who tensed. "As he has said, we are here for her." Her hand slowly moved coming to rest in Fay's direction.

"Hiei has already given you our answer,' Kurama spoke softly his tone a warning. "We will not hand Fay over to you or anyone else."

Ashriel smiled in amusement. "Shall we put your theory to the test?" Much like Hakel, he vanished and reappeared before Fay. She backed away from him only stopping when Botan placed her hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, I'm right here. He tries anything and I'll wallop him with my oar." Fay doubted that would do much good but she appreciated Botan trying.

"I suggest you tread carefully, one wrong move and I will not hesitate to kill you."

Ashriel glanced at Kurama and gave a slight nod as he knelt before Fay and held up a white honeysuckle flower.

'At least this one's a gentleman,' Botan thought, though if he was trying to win Fay over…she could tell him it wouldn't work. Fay shot her a look, as if asking 'am I supposed to do something?' Botan shrugged. "Well…you could always take it," she whispered.

"Okay…a flower, is that supposed to do something?" Yusuke asked, then again if they were anything like Kurama's…

"I don't know, do you think it's got some kind of sleeping powder?" Kuwabara asked. If it did he'd just slash it to pieces.

"That flower…has a meaning." They turned to Kurama as he spoke. His calm voice had a hard edge to it, and his green eyes glittered dangerously. "Its meaning is devoted affection, and that speaks for itself."

Yusuke blinked before snorting and covering his mouth, trying to contain his laughter.

"Care to share what's so funny, Yusuke?" Hiei asked.

"Yes, I'd like to know that myself," Kurama added.

Besides Yusuke, Genkai smiled. "There's no need to look so worried, Kurama. You will see for yourself in a few seconds."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Answer him." Shizuru came to a stop next to Botan while Yukina stayed a few feet back.

'I wish this was all there was to it, it'd be a whole lot simpler,' Botan thought. She already knew what Fay's answer was going to be…once she understood the situation.

"Answer him how?" Fay whispered, she turned back as the man spoke. "Shall I spell it out for you lady? I am ever your servant. Command me and I shall obey. Your will is-"

Fay snorted rolling her eyes as she realized what was going on. "Right, cause no one's tried to sell me that pretty picture before. Thanks for…err…the effort but could you maybe get up? This is embarrassing and he'll never let me live it down!" she pointed at Yusuke who grinned. "Hey don't worry; I'll save this one for when I really need it!"

'You lousy…' Fay shot him a glare as Ashriel stood and slowly made his way back to his teammates, the honeysuckle flower disappearing in his grasp. "Either she's blind or the most oblivious girl I've ever met...or your sources are correct Hakel." He stared intently at Fay giving her the feeling that she wasn't going to like his next words. "She is in love with someone outside of the Factions."

"What?" Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to look at Fay who was trying her best to keep her blush down and her panic from showing, not that she was succeeding all that well.

"Is this what you've been hiding from me Botan?" Yusuke demanded. Botan sweat dropped and took a step back. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She smiled innocently, hands up in front of her like paws.

"How come no one ever tell me what's going on!" Kuwabara complained loudly.

"It's a lie!" Fay denied loudly. "A lie. A lie. A lie! Who are you going to believe? Me or that idiot!" she pointed at Ashriel accusingly, he simply smiled in amusement.

"Should I commence cutting of their heads?" Hakel asked, her hand still on the hilt of her sword. Ashriel shook his head. "Not just yet, let us see if we can find who this male is. Once we do we will exterminate him," he whispered to her. Simple enough to do under the cover of the loud conversation taking place a few feet from them. Of course they would have to be cautious, the dark haired demon and the young woman named Genkai were keeping an eye on them, he could tell.

Yusuke stopped. "She's got a point." For all they knew these guys were trying some kind of distraction. 'But then…' If it were true a lot of her behavior could be explained. 'Not that it's really much of my business.' Except for the surprise, he didn't really care that much about it…and he was pretty sure he knew who it was now that he thought about it.

"Fay's right! It's probably some sort of distraction they're trying." Kuwabara turned back to the three. "And we're not falling for it! If you want to take Fay you're going to have to go through us!" He powered up his spirit sword keeping an eye on the guy who hadn't talked yet.

Fay sighted in relief. 'Disaster averted.' She hated to lie to them but the other option would be…well she wasn't ready yet, after all she hadn't even told him herself!

Ashriel's announcement took him by surprise, he had not expected it, indeed since he had a suspicion of who he spoke off, he hated it. As much as he would like to believe Fay's denials, he knew better. He had already seen the proof of it himself. Kurama turned to the trio. "You have wasted enough of our time." His demeanor was as before, when he'd told them the meaning of the flower, yet Ashriel's words had added a coldness to it. "Fay has given you her answer and you already have ours. That is all there is to say."

Ashriel smiled and spread his wings, the other two doing the same. "You're right. Now all we need to do is get you out of our way." White and black feathers were cast to the wind, reminding Kurama and Hiei of a previous attack but this one proved to be different. As Hiei rushed forward, intent on stopping them, the feathers solidified into copies of the three. A copy of Hakel clashed swords with Hiei while another tried to decapitate him.

A lash of his rosewhip and the woman turned into a torn feather. Kurama quickly had to dodge back then, as one of the Ashriel clones hurled arrows of golden light his way. Yusuke found himself confronted with five of the Ezekiel clones, clones that were quickly wiped out by his shot gun blast, then had to duck as another Hakel tried to take his head. "You know, for someone claiming the name of angels these guys sure fight dirty!" He slammed a fist into another Ezekiel sending the clone flying.

"I doubt if they care what you think Yusuke. To your left!" Genkai landed behind Yusuke shooting her spirit gun at the incoming clones. "Forget about the clones! Look for the real ones, if they fall then so will the clones!"

"That's easier said than done!" Kuwabara lashed out at another clone, trying to stay clear of the girl ones. "I can't tell the difference between them until they turn into feathers!"

"Behind you Kuwabara!" At Kurama's warning, Kuwabara turned barely managing to dodge another of the dark angel's clones. Kurama's rosewhip brought down the clone. "There must be a way to tell them apart. We just have to find it."

"Then we better do it soon before they become too many!" Hiei brought down another clone, landing beside Kurama and Kuwabara who was getting to his feet. He tugged the white bandanna from over his Jagan eye and searched about as it opened.

"Kurama! The Ashriel to your far right! Genkai, Yusuke, the woman falling from above!" Both looked up though it was only Yusuke who pointed and fired his Spirit Gun while Genkai took care of the doubles around them, using her own shot gun attack to wipe them out. Hakel landed heavily to their left, her clones slowly dying out. Teeth gritted she struggled to her feet.

"I suggest you give up little girl, unless you want your life to end now." Genkai warned taking a step toward her.

Kurama quickly turned, spotting the Malaika with the startled expression. He ran forward dodging and lashing out at the clones around him then turning on the real one. Ashriel stopped his rosewhip with a double sided glaive then pulled Kurama forward while at the same time launching a long dagger with his right hand. Kurama dodged the dagger, untangled his whip and landed on one knee as Kuwabara charged the Malaika. "He's not the only one you're fighting!" he shouted bringing his sword up to attack.

"Kuwabara watch out for-" Kurama's eyes widened as Ashriel easily dodged and stabbed a dagger into Kuwabara's side. "If you think that's gonna stop me you're wrong!" Kuwabara quickly stabbed the Malaika with his sword then fell to his knees as Ashriel stumbled back. Kurama struck then, his rosewhip tightening around the man's stomach and piercing with the thorns.

'Where is he?' Hiei thought. The other clones were quickly disappearing but the dark winged one was missing. A thought struck him and he quickly turned in their direction. "The black one! he's after Fay!" he shouted to the others as he ran.

Ashriel smirked as the thorns pierced him and burst into three glowing golden feathers, while Hakel let out a laugh and disappeared, two red feathers drifting to the ground.

"The girls!" Genkai shouted heading after Hiei. 'This was all a trick to buy them time.' Had the sudden blast of wind not stopped them, they would have made it in time.

As the fighting began, Botan tugged Fay back with them. "Come on we better get back inside and let the boys handle this." Fay nodded, chancing a quick glance in Kurama's direction before following after her friends. 'Kurama, please be careful.'

However before they could make it to the front door four Hakel's, two Ashriel's and the black winged angel appeared.

When Fay would have placed herself between them, Botan tugged her back behind her, giving her Puu to hold while Shizuru pulled Yukina back as well. "We're not going to hand her over so you guys better give up," Shizuru warned. Botan materialized her oar and held it up threateningly. "That's right; you'll have to go through us to get to her."

"We don't care for hurting females, even human ones," Ezekiel said. "However the one you protect is nothing more than a vessel for power. Her human form matters little."

"That's not true! Fay is as human as Shizuru so don't think we'll fall for your tricks," Botan warned.

"Please don't do this," Yukina pleaded peeking out from behind Shizuru. "None of us have done you any harm. Will you really be so cruel as to hurt us for power?" Her red eyes swam with emotion and Ezekiel seemed to hesitate. "I…do not wish to harm any of you little one."

"Then please, do the right thing and let us through."

The sounds of battle reached them as they waited, and finally Ezekiel took a step back only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "I know you want too, but remember what our mission is, Azrael expects results," One of the Ashriel's had stepped forward to stop him.

'Darn! And we were so close,' Botan thought. Now they would probably have to fight them.

"You two are too weak hearted,' one of the Hakel's scoffed with disdain, "I will take care of this matter." The four Hakels' stepped forward unsheathing their swords.

Shizuru had stooped down to pick up a few rocks while the two men spoke, thinking she could at least use them as a distraction, now she hurled most of them at the clones but the stones simply passed through all but one, and that one they simply bounced of her armor.

'This is not good,' Botan took a step backward, the grip on her oar tightening.

"Enough!" Fay handed Puu over to Yukina and pushed through, stepping in front of the girls. "They're after me, not you guys. I'm not going to just stay at the back and watch you get hurt!" She glared up at the Malaika. "Just to let you know, I'd rather die than hand you what you want!"

"Don't do anything rash, Fay. I'm sure the others will be here soon," Botan cautioned.

One of the Hakel's stepped forward, smirking. "They will be entertained for some time to come. By the time they realize what we have done; The Right will be in our hands." Fay tensed but kept her ground as Hakel raised her sword to point at her heart. "As for your power…well we have ways of making you cooperate." The words sent shivers down Fay's spine but she kept her ground, her chin raised high. "Try me!" she snapped.

The two men stepped forward just as she heard Hiei call her name, Shizuru grabbed tightly to her hand while Botan raised her oar threateningly. The sudden blast of wind took them all by surprise; the sonic boom that followed struck them down.

Hakel raised herself to her knees and was helped to her feet by Ashriel and Ezekiel. "What happened?" she asked looking about. Two of the girls lay on the ground but the one they sought was nowhere in sight.

The small black hair demon landed before the girls, his red eyes angry. "For that I'm going to kill you all!" He struck but only clones that set themselves before the trio. "Stop hiding behind your feathers and fight!" he struck again, cutting through the remaining clones.

"It is not us you should be looking to," Ezekiel said. "The dragons now have The Right, and I believe they also took one other."

Hiei turned to look back at the figures on the ground. Yukina and Botan were coming to but Fay and Shizuru were missing.

"Shizuru! What happened to my sister?" Kuwabara demanded, one hand clutching his side. He was talking to air; the trio of angels was gone.

"Botan! You okay?" Yusuke asked as they joined them.

"I'm fine but could someone get the name of that truck?" Her eyes suddenly widened. "Fay! Shizuru!"

Kuwabara ran over to Yukina helping her to her feet. "I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to stop the dragon that took them. I don't think it would have taken Shizuru, but she was holding on to Fay." Yukina turned to look at Kuwabara when he hit the ground and caught sight of the blood. "You're hurt!" She knelt beside him placing her hands above the wound. "Don't move, I'll heal you." On her left side, Puu lifted himself into the air, hovering near Yukina as she healed Kuwabara.

"Thanks." Kuwabara let his hand drop to his knee. He'd gotten worse cuts before but this one was starting to make him feel kinda numb.

Reassured that Yukina was unharmed, Hiei left, heading after the golden flash he'd seen from the street. He wasn't the only one; Kurama quickly took off after him.

The battle field around them dropped and the front door burst open. "Where did everyone go?" Keiko asked.

"Puu!" Puu quickly flew over to Keiko, landing in her outstretched arms. 'Well except for being a little dusty he looks okay.'

"Stay with Yukina and Keiko, Kuwabara, we've gotta go!" Yusuke turned and raced away. "Hey! I'm coming too just as soon as Yukina heals me!" Kuwabara shouted after him. That dragon had taken his sister! He had to help.

"Those boys never learn," Genkai turned to Kuwabara. "You're in no condition to go running off, stay here and recover. If there's anything we can do to get them back we'll do it." She then turned to Botan. "Let's follow on your oar."

Botan materialized her oar and jumped up on it. "We'll be back as soon as we can." Genkai jumped up behind her and they headed off.

"What happened?" Keiko asked joining Yukina and Kuwabara. "Those angels tricked us! That's what happened!"

"Let us go you stupid dragon!" Fay shouted kicking her feet.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Fay." Fay tightened her hold on the hands she held and looked down. 'Oh, right.' If the dragon did let them go she doubted either Shizuru or herself would survive.

"I'm sure the others will be here soon, we just have to hold on till then." Shizuru reassured her. She hoped it was soon because she could already feel herself slipping. Shizuru tightened her hold. "Don't let go!"

"I'm trying!" Fay spoke over the wind, but her grip was already slipping. "I won't let you die! Kuwabara would never forgive me!" 'Neither would I.' Fay added silently. The wind was making all this worse, it whipped about them harshly, reminding her of a few hours ago. In all she'd rather deal with that. Her eyes widened as her hold slipped a little more.

Shizuru had known something was coming, that was why she'd taken a hold of Fay's hand, but she hadn't exactly known it would be an unwelcome lesson in flying. She also knew that Fay could only hold on for so long, both their holds were beginning to slip. "Listen, don't blame yourself. I was the one who kept a hold of you-"

"No! Don't you dare talk like that! We're both going to get out of this so just please, hold on!" If there weren't so much wind, Fay knew she'd be blinking back tears; as it were her eyes were just too dry. Shizuru smiled up at her but it wasn't very reassuring. 'I won't let go! I won't!'

As the sun began to rise in the horizon the golden dragon rose higher into the sky, past thick clouds. It roared, and Shizuru caught sight of glimmering light in the distance, reminding her of the northern lights. "I think he's doing something!" she called up. Fay didn't respond she seemed to be struggling with something in her arm. "What's wrong?" Shizuru shouted up at her.

Fay smiled down at her. "I told you you'd be fine."

Shizuru turned her gaze to what the girl was struggling with. Fay was carefully sliding her charm bracelet down her wrist and onto hers. "What is that going to do?" Shizuru shouted up.

"I think the dragon's preparing to go through a portal. More than likely he's taking me back to my world. I already said I wouldn't give anyone this power and I mean it, but if they have you too they can use you against me. So you have to stay where it's safe!" Fay finished sliding the bracelet onto Shizuru's wrist. "I wouldn't let go if I wasn't completely sure, but I know this bracelet will keep you safe. So please trust me."

Shizuru blinked up at the bracelet. Fay was right; she could be used against her, and she could feel the power lying the bracelet. "I trust you, and I'll see you later. Promise."

"Kay!" Fay let go. Shizuru plummeted down through the thick clouds. She didn't notice it at first but as she kept falling it finally came to her that the speed of her fall was slowing. By the time she could make out roofs she was gently floating down. Shizuru looked back up. 'Thanks Fay. I'll make sure they get you back or they'll answer to me.'

"Shizuru!" She turned when Botan called her name waving as they neared her. "Are you okay, and where's Fay?"

"That dragon took her. Fay said he'd be taking her back to her world." Shizuru answered as Botan flew closer.

"She gave you her bracelet." Botan had been wondering how Shizuru had been floating down, now she understood.

Shizuru looked down at the bracelet. "Yeah, Fay did say it would keep me safe."

"We better head back down then. We have planning to do; Shizuru can you get to the ground on your own." Genkai asked.

"I think I can handle this easily enough." She lowered her arm and felt her descent speed up.

"Be careful and don't rush. We'll wait for you back on the ground." Botan turned her oar and headed down.

'You'll be okay, Shizuru.' Not that she could say the same for herself. Fay struggled, trying to break the dragon's grip on her but it was impossible, he was way too big, she doubted if he even cared that she struggled. 'I don't want to go back! Especially not as a prisoner!' She still had to find the rest of the crest pieces, and…and… 'I haven't told Kurama how I feel! I promised I'd talk to him.' Fay fisted her hands feeling hopeless, until she felt something in her hold. 'What?' she opened her palm and looked down at the rock. 'That's right; Shizuru threw rocks at those illusions.' Too bad it wasn't big or sharp enough for her to do any damage to the dragon.

The dragon flew through the curtain of light and Fay couldn't help look around in wonder. It was as if the dragon flew in between two immense curtains of shimmering northern lights, Fay almost felt as if she could reach out and touch them. 'Concentrate! This means we're traveling back to my world now. I have to do something to stop it!' She looked back down at the rock. 'It's really not big enough to do any damage…' A memory flashed in her mind. 'My power…I may not be able to use it but maybe…maybe…'

Concentrating Fay held the rock between her hands and closed her eyes tightly. 'Work, I just need a little bit to flow into the rock and not have it shatter. Just enough to cause some damage.' She soon felt her hands expanding and snapped her eyes open to look at the now larger rock in her hand. Instead of being black it was now the color of her eyes and glowing with power, though Fay could already feel it wanting to shatter. 'You can shatter, just as soon as you make him let me go!' She brought the rock up and slammed it down on the claw that held her. The rock shattered as the dragon cried out and released her, and Fay fell.

'On second thought…this might not have been such a good idea!' She screamed, falling through layers and layers of colored light until they finally disappeared and she fell through a dark colored sky. Whatever world she was about to land in, Fay knew one thing, 'I am so dead.' She expected her life to flash by, she had heard that that usually happened, the fact that it didn't made her feel cheated, until his face came to her mind. 'Kurama.' She should have paid attention to Botan and told him, now it was too late.

Fay hit the treetops at a high speed and tumbled through them, branches snapped as she fell and tore angrily at her clothes and skin, a thicker branch entangled itself in her hair and her head jerked back painfully before the branch snapped and tumbled down with her. At the midway point she began to hit thicker branches that slowed her fall more than the smaller ones had, but tore louder yelps of pain from her throat. She tried curling into a fetal position but found it impossible, and instead her right hip hit a thick branch that wrenched a scream from her. She hit another with her left shoulder, the next slammed against her right side, but before she could even think of grabbing onto the branch she fell once more, finally hitting the grassy ground with a painful thud as darkness claimed her.

"Shizuru's fine, she'll be down in a bit." Botan assured the boys as she caught sight of them on the ground. "What about Fay?" Yusuke asked as Botan came to a stop near them.

"She's gone isn't she?" Kurama asked.

Genkai jumped off from behind Botan and nodded. "Yes, she gave Shizuru her bracelet so that she would land safely, however Fay could not escape the dragon's hold."

"Damn it! We should've stuck closer to her!" Yusuke curled his hands into fists; he couldn't help but think that so far they hadn't done a very good job of protecting her.

"Blaming ourselves will do us little good," Genkai said sternly. "We need a plan of action and for that to happen we need information."

"In that case I know just the person to call." The group turned to Yusuke as he took a deep breath and shouted. "Mary Anne! Get your ass here now!"

"And what is this supposed to accomplish?" Genkai asked, her answer came soon enough.

"I'm getting a major sense of déjà bu."

AN: R&R, till next chapter^^

_Next chapter preview _

"_If you're going to need that arm later…"_

"_Let's start with this dragon…"_

"_She has already made her position to us clear."_

"_I should start giving Fay more credit."_


	31. Chapter 31: Seeking

CHAPTER 30: Seeking

The group turned to look at the petite girl to their left. Unlike the last time they saw her, she wore more informal clothes; white cargo shorts, a brown tank top and gray sandals. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and a black backpack was slung over her shoulder. "I'll have you know that I have a life too and-"

"We aren't in the mood for your chatter, and if you really want to get back to your life,' Hiei appeared before her, his katana poised across her neck, "You'll do as we say."

"Hiei! That is no way to ask for her help!"

Hiei glanced at Kurama from the corner of his eye. "Does it look like I care? If you haven't noticed we're on a time limit. I highly doubt the Dragons will wait for us to get there before they start whatever torture they're planning. Or hadn't you thought of that Kurama?"

Kurama's eyes darkened with an unreadable emotion, though Mary Anne noticed his fisted hands trembling.

'At least she's integrated well.' Not that it made her being dropped on the whole freakin drama any less annoying…and for that matter, why was this idiot threatening her!

"Hiei." Hiei startled at the sweet smile Mary Anne turned on him. "If you're going to need that arm later,' her smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed, light flashing in them for a second. "Get the hell away from me!"

His surprise turned to shock as he was blasted away by a wave of energy. His weapon clattered to the ground a few feet to his left, unlike him, he floated in place as Mary Anne turned to the rest of the group. "Now, let's begin again. From what I understand someone kidnapped Fay, am I right so far?" she asked pleasantly.

"Correct," Genkai answered. "A golden dragon took her while we were fighting three of the Malaika. Is there any possibility that they are now working together?" Unlike everyone else, she didn't seem to have noticed, or cared about Hiei's dilemma.

'Why didn't anyone tell me she could do that?' Yusuke thought watching as Hiei struggled to get out of whatever…or however, Mary Anne had him hanging on air. 'Okay, so if she can do that why isn't she helping us!' He knew she kept talking about rules and limits but who the hell cared! If someone managed to gain Fay's power her stupid rules wouldn't matter!

'I suppose it takes power like that to be a Guardian of Mid-Earth.' Kurama thought. 'Some in the group would be wise to remember it…next time.'

"Uhh…are you sure…you want to leave him like that?" Botan nervously pointed at Hiei.

"She's right, you can't keep me here forever and I will-"

With an annoyed sigh Mary Anne turned back to Hiei and pointed at the struggling demon. "One: I hate threats…well no, I just hate it when someone threatens me." Yusuke and Botan sweat dropped at the statement. "Two,' she held up two fingers, "You're nowhere near strong enough to take me on so don't bother trying."

Hiei gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowed in anger as he continued to struggle.

She held up a third finger, "Thirdly: Do not touch the Guardian, especially not with weapons." Mary Anne snapped her fingers and he dropped to the ground.

'If she thinks this is the end of it,' Hiei picked up his katana returning it to its sheath. 'She's got another thing coming.' Especially if she thought he wasn't strong enough to defeat her. She'd simply caught him off his guard this time, next time would be a different story, though for the moment…he'd let her live, after all they needed Mary Anne alive to get Fay back…but after that he wasn't making any promises.

Mary Anne turned back to Genkai. "The factions working together…it's not very probable."

"Are you certain about this?" Kurama asked.

Mary Anne nodded, her lips pursed in thought. "You have to remember, these groups want Fay's power for their own. If they tried working together…well it wouldn't be very successful, they'd always be suspicious of the other and trying to manipulate each other to their ends. I don't think it would work."

"Fine, who cares about that! Just take us back to your world so we can get Fay back!" Yusuke snapped.

"There is no reason for you not to help us this time. Fay's return to us is, after all, in your best interest." Although Kurama knew they were wasting time, at the moment they had little choice but to try convincing Mary Anne that she needed to help them.

"Please say you'll help." Hands clutched before her, Botan looked down at Mary Anne. "Just think how scared Fay is at this very moment."

Mary Anne managed not to roll her eyes. Sighting she scratched her head and thought. "Let's start with this dragon…where exactly was he taking her again?"

"Back to your world, or at least that's what Fay said." The group turned to look at Shizuru as she landed lightly on the ground. Unhappily, Mary Anne noticed that she had Fay's bracelet. Why she'd just floated down from the sky, she had a guess or two.

"Okay, so you guys say that this dragon took Fay back to my world, well I'm sorry to say that the only dragon made portal that I sensed in the last hour had only one dragon passing through it. Trust me; I would have known the second Fay returned to mid-earth."

"Are you saying he took her somewhere else?" Yusuke demanded, then what she'd said hit him. "Wait a minute! You're saying that you can sense when someone from the factions makes a portal?" At her nod he gritted his teeth. "So why the hell don't you let us know? It'd be a lot easier if we knew they were coming!"

"We went over this already," Mary Anne said sounding bored. "I can't get too involved in this war. I do have rules to follow and those rules say-"

"Screw the rules! This is the fate of more than one world we're talking about you can't just-"

"Yusuke, that's enough," He turned to Genkai. "But-"

"She has already made her position to us clear. That is not what we're supposed to be concentrating on."

"Genkai's right," Kurama watched Mary Anne, his gaze worried. "If as you said, the dragon did not come through to your world with Fay, something must have happened to her between then."

Mary Anne nodded slowly, her frown thoughtful. "I highly doubt that dragon took her to another world, not when Astor wanted Fay in his grasp. It…leads me to believe that for some reason or another, he must've let go of her when in the In Between."

"What would that mean for Fay?" Shizuru asked, though from the feeling she was getting she doubted it was good news.

"It means that Fay is in who knows what world…and there's a ten percent chance, and that's being generous, she's still alive." Actually, that would solve her problem for the next hundred years but to have to do all of it again... Inwardly she groaned. No, that was the last option on her list.

Stunned silence met her words, from Mary Anne's perspective; they appeared to be trying to come to terms with her revelation. It was Kurama who spoke first and damn if he didn't look guilt ridden, though he hid it well. Botan had turned away to hide her tears and Shizuru's torn gaze was on the bracelet about her wrist. Yusuke didn't seem to be able to grasp what she'd just said, and Hiei shared the same expression. The only one who appeared in control of herself and unaffected was the young woman Yusuke had called Genkai.

"Why…why would her chances of survival be so low?" Kurama asked softly.

"If you fall from the In Between instead of crossing through a portal…or being sent thought it like Fay was sent to this world, your fate will be that of a sky diver without a parachute…must I add graphics?"

Kurama was silent and Genkai took over the conversation. "That still gives us a ten percent chance that she's alive. Is there any way you can track her?"

"Well,' Mary Anne pointed at the bracelet around Shizuru's wrist. "I did tag a tracking spell to that bracelet, but like we all know that's not going to happen. Thankfully I did think of that and placed another tracking spell on the crest I gave to Fay," she nodded smugly to herself, "Always plan ahead and all that."

Yusuke took a step back. "Uh…about that…I don't suppose you planned another step ahead because…Fay doesn't have the crest anymore."

Mary Anne wavered on her feet, trying to keep her tempter in check. _"Well why the hell not!"_ she hissed in an angry whisper. Yusuke looked down, his expression guilty. "Well…I…"

"It was me, I asked Fay to hand me the crest for safekeeping and she agreed. Had I known what it would mean, I would have left it in her hands." Kurama interrupted.

"Well, make my life a whole lot easier why don't yah!" Mary Anne snapped.

"Don't you shout at Kurama!" Yusuke turned on her. "It was my fault in the first place! He wouldn't have taken it if-"

"Enough! This isn't getting us anywhere. You," Hiei turned to Mary Anne. "I doubt that's the only way to track her. So instead of wasting time why don't you get on with it!"

"Are you ordering me around now!" Mary Anne glared, her eyes beginning to glow again.

"Please," Botan stepped between them, tears in her voice. "If there's any chance that Fay's alive you have to help us find her. She's our friend and we want to bring her back, but we need your help to do it."

"Is there another way to track her?" Genkai prompted when Mary Anne remained silent, though her eyes were back to normal. "Yeah, there is…I'll…just follow the yellow brick road."

"And that's supposed to mean something to us?" Yusuke asked trying to keep his temper.

Mary Anne glanced at him, "Think it over boyo, meanwhile I'll see what I can do. I'll be back in three hours." She turned to go when Genkai's voice stopped her.

"You have hour and a half; we can't afford anymore wasted time."

Mary Anne half turned, regarding her with an impassive gaze that after a few moments turned amused. "Righto, granny." She turned away and disappeared.

"You know…I'm starting to really hate her attitude." Yusuke grumbled glaring at the spot Mary Anne was last in.

'Looks like we finally agree on something, Yusuke.' Hiei thought.

"I have to admit that she's nothing like her predecessor. She knew her manners." Genkai turned to lead the way back to the house, uncaring that her words had startled the group.

"You knew the last Guardian?" Yusuke asked walking at her side.

Genkai glanced up at him, "Only briefly, but before she left to find her replacement she told me to give the new Guardian a chance once I met her." Genkai had known that the last one had had a touch of the sight, now she began to understand what she had meant.

"I don't suppose she told you if Fay would be alright?" Botan asked her tone sad.

"Unfortunately she was no oracle." Genkai replied calmly.

"Don't give up on Fay yet," Shizuru placed a hand on Botan's shoulder. "From what you've told me she's gotten out of pretty bad situations before. We just have to believe that this is one of them."

'But this…is different.' Botan didn't know if in her current condition, Fay would be able to survive, but until they knew otherwise, she had to believe Fay was safe. "Of course you're right Shizuru. We'll see Fay soon."

"Agonizing over her fate won't do us any good," Genkai turned to Botan. "Contact Koenma, maybe he can help in tracking her down."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Koenma will want to know about this. I'll call him when we get back to the house." She'd go there but current circumstances being what they were, Botan didn't really want to deal with Koenma's outburst on her own. This way she could 'accidentally' break off the communication when he started shouting about what should have been done.

"Let's just hope Mary Anne doesn't really take three hours to find out where Fay is," Yusuke said his tone worried. "Even if Fay survived a fall from that high up-"

"Yusuke, shut up!" Yusuke glanced at Hiei, then turned in the direction of his gaze.

Kurama had stopped on the sidewalk and although his gaze was hidden, all of them could feel his anger and underlying frustration.

"Uhh…listen Kurama, Shizuru's right. We'll see Fay-"

"Enough, Yusuke. There is no reason for you to try and assure me. I know Fay will be well." He walked past them without looking back. 'I will not give up hope, Fay must be alive. I…I would feel if it were otherwise.' Although now, he truly wished he had told her how he felt. 'I will see you again, Fay, and I will let you know…even if you reject me.'

The group soon arrived back at the house but before they could get to the door it burst open, Yukina's eyes wide. "Kurama, please help. Kazuma has been poisoned!"

"When did that happen?" Yusuke demanded even as Kurama rushed past them and headed up the stairs, Shizuru following.

"His wound,' Yukina explained. "The weapon that caused it must have been poisoned. I managed to catch it before I healed him completely, but I couldn't neutralize it." She turned and hurried back in followed by Yusuke, Botan, Hiei and Genkai.

Mary Anne reappeared in her world, stopping the whine that wanted to work its way out her lips. 'Okay, so I don't have a lot of time and I have to track down that stupid dragon.' This was going to be so annoying. Yawning, she disappeared once more, reappearing on a street near the Boardwalk, where she was supposed to have been heading with some friends at this very moment.

"You're here early."

Mary Anne glanced over at the taller figure joining her. "Like it's my fault. Your dear son and all his little pals decided it'd be nice if they lost Fay and I could go play hide and go freakin seek with a dragon," she grumbled crossing the street.

"I know for a fact that that group tried their best. Perhaps you shouldn't judge them so harshly." He followed a few feet behind her.

"Whatever. If you know that then you must've been keeping an eye out. So I'm also going to take a guess here and say that you know where he is." She stopped at the other side of the street, looking back at him. "I have some guesses but you probably know where he is for sure."

The man nodded and looked past her. "He has a den in one of the clubs here, I saw him limping into it not long ago."

Mary Anne chuckled as she started down the street once more. "Limping, huh?" If Fay had done that to him she'd actually feel better about this whole fiasco.

He took the lead then and she followed past restaurants and clubs to a two story building painted to resemble a beach, with a mermaid sitting on a rock. 'So tacky.' The painting also appeared to need a new coat. "Coming along?"

"No, I have my own business to attend too." The man turned to go but paused and glanced back at her before she could go in. "Next time you might want to think on your actions," he left then.

'All he needs is the right coat and he could be papa bear.' Mary Anne thought wryly. She opened the door and walked into the dim lit interior.

"Hold it, no kids allowed." One of the security guards came up barring her way.

Mary Anne took a deep calming breath. 'Just remember…you're supposed to protect them, not kill them on sight, not even the stupid ones.' She froze him with a look and stepped past, heading for one of the backrooms.

The door opened before she reached it and the small Guardian stepped inside, her gaze quickly scanning and finding her objective. He rested his tall frame in a long sofa, a bag of ice on his forehead and another on his right foot, which looked rather swelled.

"I should start giving Fay more credit. If she beat you this bad on her own, she deserves it." Tone amused, Mary Anne closed the door behind her, the lock clicking into place on its own.

"You are not allowed to harm my beautiful visage! I've had enough of that!" The golden dragon snapped sullenly. He stayed in the same position not bothering to sit up or glance at the girl. "Can you believe what she did? She hit me with a rock! Not just any rock, some stupid magical rock that hit me like a ton of bricks, but not the normal type of bricks, those I could take. No this was the bad type of bricks that left me feeling as if…well I'm sure you get it." He groaned and found a new position for his poor swelled foot. "I couldn't even show up for my shoot today. I've never not gone in for work. Now here I am,' he took on a tragic tone. "Crippled and looking like hell warmed over." His stomach felt queasy too.

On a good day the dragon in human form had long wavy golden hair, pure green eyes and a body that made women stop and stare as he passed by, and stare, and keep staring at even if they got a crick in their necks. He was more than good looking and he knew it, so his thoughts had been that he could just pick up the girl, change to human form once they got here, and she'd fall head over heels for him. Tada! The dragons win and everyone else looses. And all because of his god-like good looks. Too bad he was going to have to come up with a new plan now, it would involve his looks, but he'd just have to kidnap the girl in a way that didn't give her a chance to throw a power filled rock at him.

He felt a painful tug on his hair, and quickly removing the ice bag he held over his face, turned to glare at the Guardian. "I said you're not allowed to harm my beautiful self!" he sounded more like an angry child.

What she'd come here for in hand, Mary Anne walked toward the door once more. "Frankly, I don't really give a damn what she did to you, as long as it was painful,' her tone was half distracted as she looked over the lock of golden hair she'd cut from him, making sure it would be obvious on his haircut.

"How could you not care! You must love me as well, and that's why you took a lock of hair-" The flare of her power slammed him back against the wall; he cringed as she turned blazing eyes on him. "Don't overestimate your existence, it means little to me. The only reason your kinds is still alive is because I can't wipe you out without causing damage to the balance." She pointed a forefinger at him, her tone almost mild, she continued. "However get me angry enough and I might 'accidentally' turn you into cinders." The Guardian turned away, the door opening for her on its own and slamming loudly behind her.

The moment she was gone the power holding him to the wall vanished and he fell onto the couch, yelping loudly as his injured foot hit the ground. 'Must she be so dramatic?' he gingerly brought up his foot and rested it over the ice bag. He'd have to check on his hair soon, the thought of having his gleaming locks of hair be uneven sent chills down his spine.

Mary Anne walked past the security guard, unfreezing him as she headed out the door. 'Let's hope this works or things are going to get a whole lot complicated.' She paused on the sidewalk, looking about. Catching sight of an alleyway she headed into it, her gaze once more on the lock of golden hair.

'Here's to hoping there's enough energy residue.' A pyramid of golden light enveloped the lock of hair floating just above her palm, creating a miniature path that ended on the wall a few feet from her. She began whispering ancient words in a quick stream, her eyes narrowed in concentration. They suddenly widened and she cursed, crushing the light pyramid in her grip. _"Hell! Hell! Hell! This is just what I needed!"_ she shouted angrily and stomped out of the alleyway.

Yusuke looked up as Kurama started down the stairs. "How's Kuwabara?" he asked worriedly.

Kurama smiled in reassurance, "He will be fine; I was able to create an antidote that neutralized the poison."

"That's good to know." Yusuke sat back on the couch feeling relieved. 'One down, one to go.' Though he was getting the feeling that getting Fay back wouldn't be a walk in the park.

"Any word from Mary Anne?" Kurama asked taking a seat in one of the couches.

"Not as of yet but it's only been twenty minutes. We must be patient." Genkai responded.

With the exception of Keiko, Shizuru, Puu, and Yukina who were up in Kuwabara's room, the group had settled in the living room to wait for word from Mary Anne. Botan had gone to retrieve her communication mirror from her room and report in with Koenma. No one envied her the job.

Hiei suddenly left his place by the window seat, heading for the door without a word to anyone. "And where are you going?" Yusuke asked. Hiei half turned to look back at him. "Do you really expect me to wait on that girl's whim? I don't care what she is; I am not going to wait around like an obedient dog." He reached for the door knob only to have the door slam open on his face. With a grimace he staggered back, clutching his aching nose and glaring at the small figure in the doorway.

"You okay, Hiei? Did she break your nose?" Yusuke came to stand behind him trying to hide his amusement. Hiei shot him a glare that promised retribution and turned back to the girl.

"I would have told you she was here, but you wouldn't stop babbling." Genkai commented from where she stood.

"Oops, did I hit you, I am sooo sorry,' Mary Anne drawled sarcastically. 'Not.'

Before Hiei could speak Kurama beat him to it. "Did you locate her?"

It was then that they heard Botan making her way downstairs, Koenma's loud tones coming from the communication mirror she held in her hand. "Oh, look sir. Mary Anne's here, she can inform you better than I could." Botan quickly descended the stairs, practically throwing the mirror at Mary Anne who deftly caught it.

"To answer everyone's first question; yes, I did find Fay. Is she alive? Yes. Will she stay alive…not likely. Not unless she's got a serious case of the best luck ever, in which case it's still likely we're all in serious trouble."

"We would prefer if you explained yourself better," Kurama commented softly.

'That's a new tone from him.' Mary Anne glanced up at the red head curiously. So far all she'd heard from him was politeness.

"Information I could work with, please," Koenma prompted impatiently.

Mary Anne turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Fay landed in a world connected to this one; feel the chills down your back? Yes, that means she landed in Demon World. Where…I couldn't tell you exactly."

"What!" Yusuke shouted in disbelief. He wasn't the only one; Koenma had echoed him, while the rest of the group held a grim silence.

"You said you didn't know exactly where she was, that means you must have some idea." Ignoring Koenma's babbling, Genkai quickly took the reins of the conversation.

Mary Anne nodded, "I do but like I said, it's not exact."

"Then just tell us where or open up a damn portal there!" Yusuke demanded of her loudly. "We'll take care of finding her, and don't tell me you can't do it or I swear I'll kick your ass! Guardian or not!"

Mary Anne gave him an exasperated look and held up the communicator in front of her. "Talk to the baby."

'Why I oughta…' Yusuke glared at her.

"The point is Yusuke, that Mary Anne really can't open a portal to Demon World." Koenma said his tone grim.

"Why the hell not?" Yusuke demanded.

"Simply put, it's out of her jurisdiction, and mine for that matter. For this…' he sucked worriedly on his pacifier. "I'll have to get permission from my father."

'Oh dear,' Botan thought. Enma wouldn't like this at all, she was so glad she didn't have to be there for that conversation.

"I take it a portal to Demon World will not be easy to open." Kurama said.

Still sucking quickly on his pacifier, Koenma shook his head. "No, it won't. Even if father agrees to it, it'll still take three days at the least, to make an item capable of opening one."

"Do you honestly believe that Fay will be able to survive in Demon World, on her own, for three days?" Hiei scoffed in disbelief. "She can barely keep from tripping over her own feet with us about. I highly doubt she'll be able to stay alive there. Especially when most demons will be able to sense the power she carries."

"I can see how worried you are,' Mary Anne commented wryly.

It wasn't apparent to her, but to those who had been around Hiei long enough, Kurama especially, it was obvious that he was worried and hiding it well. He himself felt cold at the thought of Fay alone in that world. 'She must have fallen from very high up; how did she survive? Her pain must be great, and all I can do is sit and wait here!' They had to find a way to her, and if any demon had dared to harm her, he would make sure they lived to regret it for eternity.

"Look, what you choose to do is up to you,' Mary Anne continued. "As Koenma said; this is out of my jurisdiction. However,' she turned the communicator so Koenma could see her. "It will be within my rights to step in in a week's time. Don't get your hopes up,' she directed this to the group. "It doesn't mean I'll be helping. It's a warning. If by Saturday midnight Fay isn't back under your protection, I will end The Right's life."

Botan gasped, "You can't mean that. This isn't Fay's fault! It's the dragon who took her!"

Gaze impassive, Mary Anne turned to regard Botan. "I don't care. She is a vessel whose power is a danger to the balance. I will do what is required of me to keep that balance safe."

Genkai stepped between the boys and Mary Anne. "Your warning will be kept in mind, now if you don't want to have a fight on your hands, leave. After you've told us where you think Fay might be found."

Mary Anne handed her a note card, "Those are the coordinates; it's only a general area not the exact place." She handed Botan the mirror and headed out the door. "My job here is done." She waved dismissively and left, the door closing behind her.

"I can't believe her!" Yusuke burst out. "She sounded just like those stupid faction! Talking about Fay as if she was just some vase or something!" He'd really had an urge to shake some sense into her or some feeling.

"Perhaps that is what Fay is to her, however we cannot waste time railing against Mary Anne's beliefs,' Kurama turned to the communicator and Koenma's image. "Getting to Demon World cannot take three days, we will only have two days left then to locate her."

Koenma nodded, "I understand, I'll do my best to cut the time in half but I can't make any promises."

"Here, I'll be right back." Botan handed Yusuke the communicator and opened the door, closing it behind her and running down the front path to catch up to Mary Anne. "Hold it!"

About to open a portal, Mary Anne lowered her hand and turned back to Botan. "Anything I missed?" she asked eyebrow raised in inquiry.

"I know you're just doing your job, but I can't believe that you see Fay the way the Factions see her. You wouldn't have helped Fay find us if you didn't want her to have a chance," Botan's tone was earnest.

Mary Anne watched her in silence before she sighted. "Even if what you say were to be true, I have to deal with a choice here. In my position what would you choose; the live of millions or that of one girl?"

Botan hesitated, but her answer came soon enough, not from her but from Yusuke. "I'd choose both, stupid." The two girls turned to look at him.

"Ha!" Mary Anne scoffed, "You're the kind of person that believes in fairy tale endings-"

"Hey, I resent that!" Yusuke interrupted her, "I do not like those stupid girly stories! I'm just saying that that type of choice shouldn't even exist, so why even bother coming up with it."

"Yusuke's right," Botan nodded, her tone a 'we know what we're talking about so listen' "If we just work together there shouldn't be any reason for that type of decision. So please, help us." She leaned down giving Mary Anne large puppy eyes.

The Guardian stepped back looking a little uncertain. "Err…"

"So, what do you say?" Yusuke walked to stand next to Botan. He was giving her the benefit of the doubt because of what Genkai had told them. He blinked, 'Did she just look sad?' Or did he imagine it?

Mary Anne shook her head. "I can't, even if I wanted to help, if I were to step in where I shouldn't…" She raised her right arm sideways.

It was then that Yusuke and Botan caught sight of the pale skin that ran from the side of her palm down, disappearing beneath her tank top. "Well I already learned my lesson; I don't need to die twice to know that fairy tale endings never happen in the real world." She finished in a whisper, her eyes sad, then they hardened and she turned to the two. "My decision stands; Saturday midnight, goodbye." She turned and walked away disappearing as she crossed through the portal.

"That…was a scar wasn't it?" Botan's tone was uncertain.

"Yeah, it was,' Yusuke's eyes stayed on the spot where Mary Anne had disappeared. "And it was a big one." 'Hold on a minute, did she say she died once?' He doubted it had been anything like when he'd died saving that kid. 'So maybe…there's a good reason she acts the way she does.' Whoever had given her that scar, he hoped they'd gotten the life beaten out of them. He turned to Botan. "Come on, Koenma says he wants you to head back to Spirit World, Kurama and Hiei are going with you."

"Oh, right." Botan turned to follow Yusuke back into the house when she caught sight of the mail box, the red handle raised. 'A letter? But from who?' She opened the lid and pulled out the letter. There was no return address nor theirs for that matter, it just said 'For the Urameshi Team' in bold letters. 'Urameshi Team…I haven't heard that since the Dark Tournament.'

"You frozen or something, Botan?" Yusuke called to her from the door.

"I was just getting this letter." She waved it in the air as she hurried to join him. "It's addressed with the team name from the Dark Tournament." She handed the letter to Yusuke who frowned as he looked down at it. "Well that's weird."

AN: Thanks to everyone's who's reviewed. Till next chapter.

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_We've been following the human's trail for hours!"_

"…_If we ate the human's flesh!"_

"_You really should stop believing that old woman, Chu."_

"_Somethin wrong, Touya?"_


	32. Chapter 32: Demon World

CHAPTER 31: Demon World

_AN: I'm no expert at writing an accent, and I myself find it annoying when someone tries and I can't really understand the words. Thus I'm going to try to stick more to the way Jin and Chu speak rather than trying to twist words into the accent...a lot. Hopefully I don't mess up too badly._

The pain dragged her from oblivion into consciousness. Fay gasped as it slammed into her with the force of a freight train, and stayed as still as she could hoping the it would diminish. It didn't; as the seconds ticked by more pain made itself known, until all she could do was force her mouth shut to stop from screaming, and blink to keep the tears from falling after a few drops proved that they burned as they slid down the sides of her face.

'Stupid trees, getting in my way.' She would have preferred a clean death to lying here in agony. That's what Fay would have liked to do, lie there as still as she could, but a sense of preservation told her to move her ass or she'd be dead soon and not because of the wounds.

'Great, now I'm hearing Yusuke in my head.' Fay braced herself and moved crying out as the pain increased, her muscles loudly protesting being put into motion. Once on her knees she stilled, breathing hard, not bothering to try and dam the tears any longer.

'It's not that I can do this, it's that I have too.' She'd come too far to just lie down and die here, and Yusuke would never let her hear the end of it. About to move again, her right hand encountered a thick branch and Fay gripped it, using it to pull herself up and lean against since her right hip didn't appear to be working properly.

'Okay, Fay. Just one painful step at a time, we can do this.' She fell three times before finally managing to stumble away from the site of her fall, though she didn't know at all where she was going or even if she were going in a circle. The pain clogged most of her senses and the tears clouded her vision, it wasn't until she ran out of ground and fell into the icy rushing river that she realized what had happened.

The water dragged her under but the cold also managed to numb some of her pain, helping her thinking clear. 'I should just stay here, I'm tired of feeling pain…I…I just want to rest.' Fay fought the rising need to fill her lungs with air and closed her eyes, letting the current drag her along.

_"Get the hell up now! I swear if you die I'll drag you back myself!" _

'I don't need you to start acting as my consciousness now, Yusuke!' Fay knew he wasn't there and it was her brain using his voice to get her to move, she resented herself for that, but it worked nonetheless and she struggled to right herself and push upward until her head broke the surface and she gasped, filling her lungs with air.

As she cleared her eyes of the icy water something brushed against her and she turned its way, grabbing onto one of the passing branches of a tree leaning out over the water. Gritting her teeth, Fay used it to pull herself to shore and collapsed onto the grass, breathing heavy.

'I'm starting to really hate the woods.' The thought of moving once again made her want to break out in sobs but she held it in and got to her feet, limping away from the river. 'At least I'm not dirty and bloody now.' She thought acidly, collapsing when her right hip gave out. What Fay didn't expect was for her hand to slide and cause her to roll down a grassy incline until she hit wood. Scared of what she'd find, Fay waited for the throbbing of her body to somewhat lessen and opened her eyes. 'Oh look,' she thought sarcastically. 'I'm in a hollow tree.'

It was a little cooler than it had been outside, but soft moss covered the ground cushioning her, and the entrance was hidden by thick green vines. 'I don't care if this is where I die, I am not moving!' she curled into a fetal position and closed her eyes, thankfully losing consciousness quickly.

The next time Fay woke it wasn't because of the pain, it was still there though least not as burning as it had been before, no what woke her were the small tremors that reached her, as well as the thick growling voices.

"We've been following the human's trail for hours! It's not here!" A voice that for some reason reminded Fay of a weasel, spoke.

Another tremor, and another being spoke, this one's voice was deep and had a loud growling undertone that made her think of a large bear. "The human has to be here! You tasted its blood! Even old it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. More importantly it gave us enough power to jump a whole class! Think of what would happen if we drank the blood fresh."

Another voice, this one quick and jerky, reached her. "Yes! I want more of it! More! That blood has quite a kick to it! Now imagine, just imagine! If we ate the human's flesh! We would become invisible!" The creature began to laugh hysterically and the other two joined.

The conversation left Fay feeling cold. Whatever world she was in it sounded as if some beings, she hoped not all of them, were cannibals. Even worse she now appeared to be a walking power snack for them.

She groaned inwardly, 'Please don't let them find me. I didn't mean that about dying here. I want to see my friends again, I want to see Kurama!' Fay closed her eyes tightly, 'I'm not here, I'm not here,' she chanted over and over again in her mind.

The conversation reached her again, the deep growling voice speaking. "We won't eat the flesh unless it's necessary. The human's blood will be more than enough. Besides if we kill it, we'll be out of our source of power. If we drink the blood...well I've heard that it's simple enough for humans to make more." The trio laughed once more, tremors reaching her as the large one walked. "But that stupid river isn't helping! All I can smell is water, no trace of the human!"

"Maybe the river swept it further downstream, or it may have covered its tracks with water and it's somewhere near where it landed. After all it must be badly hurt." The weasel voice said. There was silence, then the growling one spoke again. "You're probably right. Come on we'll go back upstream." The ground trembled again, the tremors slowly fading until she couldn't feel them anymore.

Fay finally relaxed letting out a slow breath. 'I know Yusuke and the others will find me, I just have to hold on till then.' She wasn't very sure if that was possible though, not when there were cannibals about and she was the main course.

Her stomach growled reminding her that it had been hours since her last meal, but she ignored it and closed her eyes. 'No way am I going out there with those things roaming. I'm just going to stay in here, where it's safe.' For the moment.

The next time she woke, it was once more because of voices, though this time they were different...human sounding.

"You really should stop believing that old woman, Chu. She isn't a fortune teller and there isn't a damsel in distress out in the woods just waiting for you to rescue her." The voice belonged to a child, or so Fay thought, and appeared to be trying to reason with this Chu. "This is the fourth time this month you've dragged us out here."

"I'm telling yah this time it's true!" Strangely enough, the voice held an Australian accent. "There's a sheila out here that needs my rescuing," a pause. "Come on out sheila! Yer handsome rescuer has arrived!"

"You realize this is ridiculous, I should be training for the next tournament not helping babysit a drunkard. This time I will win and become famous." A third voice spoke out, this one sounding just a little haughty.

Another voice laughed, sounding bright and cheery, and with what Fay could only identify as an Irish accent. He spoke quickly, so that she had to take a second to fully understand his words. "Don't go counting me out, Shishi. I've been training a whole lot too. And I'll be the one fighting Yusuke one one, an beating him, so I will."

"Hey that's not fair! I want a shot at Yusuke too. At least with him I'll be able to give my yo-yo's a good work out." The child spoke again.

"You're all wasting your breath! I'll be the one to defeat Yusuke. Just as soon as I bring down that old woman, Genkai. I need to pay her back for that embarrassing defeat she dealt me in the tournament!" This voice sounded even haughtier.

"You blokes are all wrong! Urameshi and myself have a score to settle so I'll be fighting him first!" The one called Chu shouted over the conversation.

"The point is,' a calm voice intervened. "That we should be training, Chu. Not wondering the woods looking for some make-believe damsel in distress."

'Well…I'm definitely in distress as much as I hate to admit it.' Fay struggled to her knees, a gasp of pain escaping her lips. They talked of beating Yusuke and Genkai, but the way they did it made it sound as if they were friends, kind of like she used to talk with her friends back home. 'Maybe I'm not that far from my friends after all.' Fay could only hope that she wasn't about to walk into some kind of trap. She pushed through the greenery covering the entrance to her hiding place.

"Quiet,' the other five fell silent and turned to Touya.

"Something wrong, Touya?" Jin asked. His pointy ears suddenly twitched as he caught the sound. "It'd be coming from over there."

"What's coming from where? What are you two talking about?" Rinku followed the two shinobi to the incline, his eyes widening in surprise as he caught sight of her. "There really is a girl."

She looked up at them tears flowing from her eyes, and attempted a smile that looked more like a grimace of pain. "I'm really, really hoping you guys are friends of Yusuke, cause I don't want to end up as dinner." She collapsed then, and the surprise that held them still passed. They ran down the incline quickly, or in Jin's case flew.

"The sheila looks as if she'd been put through the ringer, look at her clothes an skin." Chu crouched to get a closer look while Jin cautiously touched her skin. "She's freezing, we be needing something to keep her warm."

"Here,' Touya took off his shirt, kneeling to help Jin put it on the girl. "This alone won't help; we need to build a fire."

Rinku looked around, "Well, were in a forest so it shouldn't be too hard."

"Let's just get her back to the campsite," Shishi suggested. "We already built one there, all we need is some more wood."

"Right, we'll meet ya back there then." Chu stood and started up the incline. "Come on then Rinku, let's go find some wood."

While the two left Jin picked up the girl, calling on the wind to lift him up. "I'll be seeing ye back at the camp; I better get her there quick."

Touya nodded, "We'll follow as quickly as we can."

Ten minutes later, a fire having been started and the girl placed beneath blankets, the group gathered around the strange girl. "Anyone else getting a strange vibe from the sheila?" Chu asked.

"She's hiding it well, but from this close up it's hard to miss." Suzuka frowned in concentration, trying to ferret out whatever it was, it was proving difficult though.

"She mentioned Yusuke's name so that must mean she's a friend of his, right?" Rinku asked.

"That I noticed she wasn't at the tournament," Touya answered searching his memory.

"We know Yusuke's already got a lass, so she can't be his," Jin thought out loud.

"This is all just speculation, we'll need to wait for her to wake up and give us answers." Touya stood from where he'd sat and moved away to check on the fire. "Until then all we can do is wait…and gather food, something that wouldn't be poisonous to humans."

"That's easier said than done," Shishi turned to look over at Touya. "I never saw a reason for it, so I don't know what it is that humans eat, or what is poisonous to them that isn't to us."

"I learned a few things, and I'm sure Suzuka did too." Touya looking over at Suzuka.

"I wouldn't be the genius that I am if I hadn't." Not that he could have avoided it; at the tournament the humans had served them their food.

"We'll go look for food then,' Touya turned to the others. "Everyone else, keep on your guard. A human in our world will definitely draw unwanted attention."

Although reluctant, Suzuka followed the Ice Master. "I'd like to know when we voted you as our leader."

Touya glanced up at him, "If the girl dies, would you like to be the one to explain it to Yusuke?"

Suzuka was silent, "Point taken."

It took almost two days for the girl to wake up, two days in which the group couldn't help but notice that the numerous scratches on her face, hands, and legs healed and began disappearing faster than should have been possible for a normal human. Their curiosity grew. She didn't look like Urameshi so she couldn't be a relative, she smelled human but at the same time there was something…different about her scent. They could also tell that she hid some kind of power deep inside of her, though they weren't sure of its exact nature. So it was that the group waited, at first patiently then later on impatiently, for the girl to wake up.

Jin was leaning down to check on her temperature when the girl finally stirred, and seconds later opened her eyes.

He smiled down at her. "She's finally coming round." He called to the rest of the group.

"About time, my patience was about to expire." Suzuka and Shishi walked over to join him as the girl cautiously sat up and looked at them.

"Had a nice rest sheila?" Chu crouched down to Jin's left, studying the girl now that the scratches had faded away. 'Never seen skin that pale on anyone.'

"Don't worry lady. We're not going to hurt you,' Rinku smiled to reassure her. "We're actually friends of Yusuke. Just like you."

The wariness in her eyes diminished and she gave them a wan smile. "Umm…well then thank you for rescuing me." She turned to look at Chu. "Yes, I feel much better, and thank you for listening to that old woman. If you hadn't come by I'd probably be dead by now."

Chu grinned giving the others a smug look. "Told yah the old woman was fer real."

"Ah jeez, now he'll never shut up about it." Rinku complained smiling when the girl's own smile brightened.

"Sorry…uhhh…' She knew she was forgetting something. "My name. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Fay." She extended her hand and Jin quickly took it, enveloping it in both of his. "The name's Jin, the Wind Master. Chu's the one with the smelly breath, that be Rinku,' he tilted his head in Rinku's direction. "Touya's the one with the ice, and those two be Shishi and Suzuka."

"Hey I wanted to tell her my name myself." Rinku complained.

"Nice to meet all of you…" Fay trailed of as she looked up at his hair. "You have a horn on your head!" she blurted out then blushed at her slip. "I'm sorry that was rude of me."

Jin grinned, "O'course I do, wouldn't be me if I didn't. Same with the ears, see?"

Fay followed his pointed finger to his ears, "Oh…they're pointy." She hadn't seen that so far.

Jin nodded, "Gives me pretty good hearing, and always start wiggling when I'm happy or exited."

As Fay watched they did just that, and she had a flashback of the first time she'd seen the little rascals. She laughed as an image of one of the characters came to mind. 'He does it just like him…without looking dorky.' He laughed with her, until Chu shoved him.

"Outta the way, Jin. I'm the one who found the sheila."

"Wasn't it Touya who heard her first?" Rinku asked.

"That's beside the point; we wouldn't have been out here if it weren't fer me." Chu pointed at himself with his thump. "So it should be me making the sheila laugh."

"Would you get yer hand of my face, I can't breathe!" Jin's words came out muffled behind Chu's hand.

"Sorry, mate." Chu removed his hand and Jin took a dramatic breath. "Thought I was a goner fer sure."

Fay stifled her laughter behind a hand, glad that she'd managed to find Yusuke's friends. "So...if you guys know Yusuke, that must means I'm still on earth right…maybe Ireland or Australia?" she asked knowing it was a long shot, and from what her grandmother had told her…neither country fit this place's description.

"Never heard of those places," Chu answered.

"You're in Demon World." Fay looked up at the one Jin had introduced as Touya. "What we want to know is how you got here."

'Demon World…' Fay sighted, 'It would figure I'd end up in a place like this. Though at least they found me and not some creepy demon out for my blood.' The thought sent chills down her spine.

"How I got here…' she gave a weak laugh, "Well…that's a not so funny story. You see, it all started when…" Fay told them an edited version; she was not telling them everything, of her story from beginning to end figuring they deserved it after rescuing her. In the back of her head she could already hear Hiei telling her she was an idiot for trusting people so easily. If he were here she'd pat him on the head. He wasn't, so she went with trusting her instincts. "And that's when you guys came along. The rest as they say is history."

"Ye're telling me that while we go looking for lasses to rescue, Yusuke's been fighting all sorts of strong opponents?" Jin exclaimed.

Fay sweat dropped, "Umm…yeah?" That's what they had to say after all she'd told them?

"If that keeps up I'll never be beating Yusuke!"

"Or that old woman Genkai," Suzuka muttered in a huff.

"Hmm…I'm having a thought here." Everyone turned to Chu, who was giving Fay a considering look, one of his hands rubbing his chin.

"What thought would that be?" Shishi prompted when Chu didn't speak up right away.

"Well, it seems that Team Urameshi has gone up and lost the sheila."

"Umm…I did say my name was Fay, right?" She muttered, not that they paid much attention.

"And she just happens to have landed in our midst. Which by my count means we're entitled to take over guardianship of the sheila."

Fay's eye twitched, 'Okay, I know he helped rescue me and all, but if he doesn't stop calling me that I'm gonna have to hurt him.'

Touya gave a calm half smile, "You mean we would be fighting anyone who tries to take her from us."

Jin grinned, "That's what I'm talking bout! We'll look after Fay, and if Yusuke and his team shows up we might let them help us out, so I say."

Shishi gave a self satisfied smile while beside him Suzuka's lips curled into a smug grin. "Sounds like a plan to us."

"Yeah! We'll show Team Urameshi how to be great guardian!" Rinku turned to Fay and gave her a thumps up. "You don't have to worry about a thing anymore, we'll take care of everything from here on out."

'That's not supposed to make me worry?' On the contrary, Fay was worrying, although… 'I guess Yusuke and the others could use some help. It would also mean that there would be less of a chance Kurama and everyone else would get seriously hurt, and the factions might think twice about attacking us.' "That sounds like a great idea!" she said out loud.

"Then it's settled!" Rinku exclaimed excitedly, already wondering what type of strong opponents they would be up against, hopefully soon.

"That's the spirit sh-" Chu was interrupted as Fay spoke, a smile on her face.

"Oh and Chu, I was wondering; have you ever seen stars dance in a circle?"

"Not that I can recall." Chu answered a frown of confusion on his face.

"Well I know I'm supposed to be grateful that you rescued me and all,' her smile turned into a glare, "But call me Sheila one more time and I'll introduce you to the dancing stars."

Chu blinked looking startled for a moment, then burst out laughing along with the others. "I knew I liked ya fer a reason, she…I mean Fay." He wrapped an arm about her shoulders and squeezed, her wince of pain going unnoticed by him, but not Jin.

"Don't go being so rough with her, Chu. She's not built like a brick, unlike you."

"Oh, sorry there Fay,' he removed his arm from about her and studying her. "I've been wondering how'd you go and get such pale skin? Fer some reason I don't think it's natural on ya."

Fay blinked in confusion, "I don't have pale skin. My skin tone is,' she looked down at her hands her eyes widening as she finally paid attention to the color. "What the! When did this happen?"

Fay didn't have to slide up the sleeves of the shirt, it didn't have any, to study the skin there. 'It's all pale.' She flung back the covers of her makeshift bed, lifting one leg and studying it before turning to the other one, lifting the shirt to thigh length.

"It's…it's all like that! When did I suddenly become Snow White! I swear if my hair turns black and animals start following me around I'm gonna-"

The whistle of appreciation snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned sharply to Chu, who appeared to be studying her very intently, his cheeks tinted red. "I think I may just be fallin in love with yah." Puzzled, she turned to the others only to see Touya, Jin, Shishi, and Suzuka had turned away, blushes on their faces.

"I bet you look great in a swimsuit." Fay turned to Rinku who openly stared; she could swear there were hearts in his eyes.

"What do you mean swimsuit…" realization struck and she turned red, tugging the shirt as low as it would go and quickly covering herself with the blankets. "Sorry! I was just examining my skin, I wasn't trying to put on a,' she covered her mouth before she blurted out something else stupid, and with a groan ducked under the blankets. Fay could only be grateful Kurama hadn't been here to see yet another episode of 'Fay, the Dummy.'

There was a cough from somewhere in front of her and Touya spoke. "Do not worry, we understand."

She peeked out just in time to hear Jin speak. "An we don't mind it at all,' a second later he realized how his words could be taken and looking almost panicked, tried to change them. "That's not what I was meaning, so don't take it the wrong way. What I be meaning was-"

Fay burst out in giggles, "Its okay I understand, and thank you for being gentleman." She shot a mock glare at Chu and Rinku. "Unlike those two."

"Ey now, there's nothing wrong with looking at a pretty sheila when she's right in front of me." Chu defended himself cheerfully.

"I didn't mean to stare really, but I wasn't the only one,' Rinku shot the other four an accusatory look. "They're just faster than me."

"Hold on a second, that's just not true!" Jin jumped in glaring down at Rinku.

"I think we have more important issues to discuss," Touya interrupted firmly and turned to Fay. "The first issue being that we can't just let Fay walk around in only my shirt. She needs clothes."

"There is that village a few miles from here," Suzuka reminded them. "When we passed through it I'm pretty sure I saw some stalls selling dresses."

"That may solve that issue but even if we were to go, we can't bring her along," Shishi reminded them. "Fay's human. She may be good at hiding her power but that close, I doubt anyone would be fooled. Not to mention her scent is that of a human's...mostly."

'I'm good at hiding my power?' Fay couldn't help the surprise. She hadn't been able to do that before but now that he mentioned it… 'I think I did it without thinking, when those demons were after me.' At least she remembered chanting that she wasn't there over and over again.

"Now, why would Fay not coming along be a problem?" Fay turned, along with the others, to Chu.

"What do you mean?" Touya asked.

Chu grinned, "I'm pretty good at measuring up a sheila. I think I've got Fay's measurements down."

Fay's blush rose, "What do you mean by that!" she hugged the blanket closer to herself. "You can't just tell my…my…well you can't!"

He laughed and stood. "I've got all sorts of hidden talents." He turned to the rest of the group. "Alright, who's coming with me?"

Rinku raised a hand, "I'll go. You may be able to tell what clothes fit her, but your sense of style is horrible."

"I'll go as well," Touya spoke up before Chu could start his argument. He turned to the other three. "Shishi, Suzuka, Jin, while we're away you'll be in charge of looking after Fay. Keep on your guard. Remember there are three demons after her already."

Jin gave him a thumps up. "Don't you go worrying about her; we'll be taking care of anyone coming around here."

Touya nodded and followed after Chu. "We'll be back soon!" Rinku waved before running after them.

"You don't really have to do all that for me." Fay had tried speaking out before but none of them had given her a chance.

"It's not like we're going to let you go around looking like that, Yusuke would kill us." Suzuka said. "Not to mention Kuwabara getting on our case with his whole honor motto."

'Hmm…' Fay thought for a moment then smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"That's settled then,' Jin sat down, floating a few inches from the ground. "How bout you telling us more bout these faction's we'll be fighting then?"

"Jin's right, the more information we have, the better prepared we'll be." Shishi sat to her left while Suzuka remained standing.

"Well…let's see,' Fay thought back on those her and the others had encountered. "First of there's the Magus…"

* * *

"It's just so hard you know."

"Right…well if you're going to keep complaining to me about there not being enough good fights, it's going to cost you a drink every ten minutes. My boss is starting to glare."

Koto gave a despondent sigh and looked over at the door behind Juri. Sure enough there was a blue skinned demon glaring daggers her way. "Oh alright, get me one of the specials."

Juri nodded and turned, "Coming right up."

'It's just not fair, why can't the tournament have lasted longer. I was having so much fun this year too.' Thanks to the Urameshi team, the Dark Tournament had been one of the best, in her opinion, since she'd begun officiating. 'Now it's over.' Koto silently mourned. It had actually been over for a few months now but that didn't stop her from wishing it had gone on forever.

Juri turned putting down the drink in front of Koto. "If you want to see a fight so much, why don't you just follow Chu, Rinku, and Touya around? They're good fighters."

"Don't you think I would if I could?" Koto grumbled, "I have no idea where those three wondered off to after the tournament."

Juri pointed over Koto's head. "Have you tried looking outside?"

"What?" Koto turned her eyes widening, then a grin coming to her lips as she caught sight of the trio walking by. "Thanks a lot Juri, keep the change." Koto placed the money down on the bar table and rushed out.

"What about your drink?" Juri called after the departing referee. 'Oh well.' She picked up the glass and took a sip of the drink, making a face at the taste. 'How can anyone drink this stuff?' nevertheless she took another sip.

* * *

The trio stopped before the nearest stall selling female clothes. Both Rinku and Touya turned to Chu.

"Well, what's her size?" Rinku asked.

Chu leaned a little closer to the stall, looking over the dresses. "Not quite sure which to choose,' Chu looked down at Rinku. "Thought you'd be coming along to chose the styles."

"Well…' Rinku looked blankly at the clothes. "I don't know what type of clothes Fay would like."

"In other words neither of you knows what you're doing," Touya summed up.

"Pretty much," Chu answered.

Touya shook his head slightly, 'Who knew shopping for women's clothes could be so difficult?'

"Look, we'll just pick a couple of different things and see what Fay likes. I'm sure-"

"And what are you three up too?"

The trio turned around at the voice.

"Sheila!" Chu exclaimed happily. "Must've been fate calling you to my side!"

Koto dodged to the left as Chu tried to hug her. "Eew, please keep your hands to yourself." She turned to Touya and Rinku. "So get into any good fights lately?" she asked eagerly.

"No, but we're pretty sure that'll change soon," Rinku said.

"Rinku!" Touya warned.

"Oops," Rinku slapped his hands over his mouth but a little too late. Koto's ears twitched and a grin appeared on her face. "What are you two hiding from me?"

"I'm hiding something too!" Chu exclaimed from behind her, pointing at himself.

Koto ignored him still looking from Rinku to Touya.

"It's nothing important,' Touya calmly explained. "So if you'll excuse us-"

"Hold on! I bet she can help us!" Touya turned to look down at Rinku. "How so?"

"Well she's a girl, so she must know what type of stuff Fay might like, right?"

Koto blinked, "Who's Fay?" These guys were definitely hiding something, and she had a feeling that it might even lead to the type of bloodletting fights she'd been looking for! Just thinking about it made her feel all tingly.

"So you're buying clothes for this Fay?" Koto jumped at the unexpected voice, "When did you get here?"

"Not that long ago,' Juri replied. "But I did hear about this friend of theirs, and if you're looking for a fashion expert, I'm just the person to help out."

"Hey, they asked me!" Koto glared, "Besides aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Don't worry about it, I'm on my break." Juri turned to the stall, looking from one item of clothes to the other. "So tell me, how does this girl look like?"

The trio glanced at each other, trying to figure a way out but finally decided it was best to give in…for now.

"Sheila's got real pale skin," Chu said.

"Her hair's kind of long and a hazel brown, oh and I think her eyes are…blue?" Rinku hadn't really noticed that, but was the color of her eyes important in buying clothes?

"Aquamarine," Touya corrected. "And apparently Chu is supposed to know her measurements."

Juri turned to look up at Chu. "She told you her measurements?"

Chu glanced away, "Uhh…yeah we can leave it at that."

'Liar.' Both Rinku and Touya thought shooting Chu a look as he spoke to Juri.

"From what you've told me I think you're definitely in the wrong place. Come on I'll show you the best place to buy her clothes." Juri started for another stall closely followed by Koto.

"You're not interested in fights so why are you tagging along?" She whispered to Juri.

"Umm…it sounds interesting," Juri replied looking about for the right place. "There it is."

"What are we going to do about them?" Rinku whispered to Touya.

"For now it looks like we need their help,' Touya replied. "After we'll try to lose them, but I'm sure they'll go off on their own once they realize we're heading into the forest."

"That might be right about Juri, but I'm not so sure about the foxy sheila." Chu said, "She seems downright determined to keep us in her sights." His lips curled into an infatuated smile, "Not that I'm complaining."

"Here we are,' Juri's words halted the conversation between the boys. "Hmm…I think you're going to need this, and this oh and this is pretty." Juri started picking out items and handing them to Koto. "Hey I'm supposed to be helping too." The fox girl stepped up next to Juri looking over the clothes. "What about this, it looks nice."

Juri turned to look, "That'll go well with her pale skin, add this too." The water demon handed Koto a pair of shoes and turned back to her chore.

"Shouldn't we tell them that we're not looking for a whole wardrobe?" Rinku wondered, "Before they make us buy one of those too?"

"We'll see what they pick first, then make out decision." Touya said.

Chu glanced down at the Ice Master, "So you're volunteering to look through Fay's clothes?"

Touya tried to keep his blush down and turned away. "Never mind, I'm sure whatever they pick will be satisfactory."

No sooner had he said that then the girls returned. "Done,' Juri showed them the bag where the clothes had been placed. "All you guys have to do is take care of the bill." She pointed to the demon waiting for payment.

Touya walked over to the demon and paid then turned back to the girls. "Thank you for your assistance, if you'll just hand us the items we'll be on our way."

Koto took the bag from Juri before she could hand it to Touya. "Oh, no need to be so formal, we'd be glad to go along and meet this Fay. After all I'm kind of curious myself, why didn't she come with you?" Her smile suddenly turned devious. "Or is it a present for someone special?" She looked to Touya specifically, dismissing both Chu and Rinku.

"Well…not exactly," Touya answered. "She's…an unexpected guest that will be traveling with us for a while." That's as close to the truth as it went.

"Then the more reason for us to come with you, after all you can't expect a girl to follow you guys around on her own right? She might get lonely," Koto argued.

'Well…' Juri listened to the argument, looking from Touya to Koto. 'It's obvious she just wants to go in case they get in a fight.' Juri didn't particularly like fights but she was a little curious, after all why didn't that girl just come with them to buy her clothes? 'I guess I could go meet her and then come back if it gets too scary.' "Alright then, when are we leaving and where are we going?" she asked cheerfully.

"It's settled then!" Koto cut off Touya. "After all, I know none of you would let anything happen to poor little us."

"What do we do?" Rinku whispered to Touya and Chu.

"Nothing much we can do about it now, let's just let them tag along," Chu said cheerfully.

"Ha! Like we don't know why you want them along," Rinku said.

"Don't go being a drongo Rinku." Chu turned to follow the two girls who'd taken the lead, not even knowing where they were going.

'I just hope this doesn't turn out be a bad move.' Touya followed after the group, pausing when movement caught his eye. His gaze narrowed before he started walking again.

* * *

"We're back!" Rinku skipped into their camp followed by the others.

"Bout time, you guys sure took long enough." Jin stood, his eyes widening when he caught sight of the two girls. "Hold on a sec, what are those two doing here?"

"Hello." Juri smiled and waved before her gaze moved on to the girl sitting on the makeshift bed. "Hey, isn't she a..."

"She's a human," Koto finished for her.

'Does everyone here have a blood hound's nose?' Fay wonder feeling a little irritated. All of them had known she was human and they had mentioned her scent. She was starting to feel as if she stank...or had the word stamped on her forehead in bright red. Fay finished the last of the fruits shed been given and waved, "Hiya, are you friends of Yusuke too?"

"Oh…well I did meet Yusuke in the Dark Tournament." Koto answered hesitantly, she couldn't really say they were friends though.

"What's a human doing here?" Juri whispered to Touya.

"Let's just say she accidentally found her way here, and we found her."

"That's right, and we're going to help Fay find her way back to human world and protect her from the bad guys that want her power." Rinku explained excitedly.

Koto's ears twitched. This was definitely becoming interesting. "So there are people after you?" she asked Fay.

Fay hesitated in answering. She didn't really know this girl…

"That aside, did you get the clothes?" Suzuka asked.

Chu, Rinku, and Touya turned to Koto who still held the bag. "Oh, that's right." She presented the bag to Fay. "They didn't really know what to do so Juri and I stepped in with our expertise."

"Umm…thank you." Fay took a quick look through the clothes in the bag, wondering if someone had cursed her to never wear pants again. She was right back to wearing a dress. 'I guess I can't really complain, it's still better than the clothes I have on now.' She really couldn't go around wearing Touya's shirt and her former dress…well she couldn't even call it a dress anymore. "I'll just go change into this." She stood, or tried. Her legs were still feeling shaky and although her thigh no longer hurt like hell, it was still somewhat painful.

"It doesn't look like she can do it on her own, she can hardly get up," Shishi said catching her wince of pain.

"This is where we come in," Koto turned to the boys. "Go away until we call you, Juri and I will take care of dressing her."

The boys glanced at each other, silently coming to an accord.

"We'll be going then,' Jin turned and walked out of the camp followed by the other boys.

"Don't take too long,' Touya advised lingering behind. "There are demons after Fay, and we need to be at hand if they show up."

"We'll keep that in mind." Koto said waving as he departed.

_NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW_

_"Botan told me a very short version..."_

_"The human! Must, must have the human's blood!"_

_"No one's ever wanted to drink my blood before."_

_It was this sad creature who helped. He so wanted to reach his dear friend..."_


	33. Chapter 33: The Demon Tree's Captive

CHAPTER 32: The Demon Tree's Captive

_AN: I have nothing against trees. One just ended up being bad in my story. _

* * *

Once the boys were gone Koto turned back to Fay who looked from her to Juri uncertainly.

"My name's Koto, this is Juri." Juri smiled and gave her a small wave.

"I'm the official referee of the Dark Tournament, though for a few…reasons, Juri here took over the job for the semi finals and finals."

Fay's eyes lighted with curiosity, "That means you watched Kurama…and Hiei, and everyone else fight."

"That's right," Koto answered importantly.

"Can you tell me about it?" Fay asked eagerly, "Botan told me a very short version of it but that was only to explain Puu."

"Botan…' Koto thought back to the tournament. "You mean that girl who colors her hair unnatural colors. I remember her."

'Unnatural? I thought that was Botan's normal hair color.' At least no one had ever told Fay otherwise.

"I think we should start helping her change." Juri picked up the bag from where Fay had left it and searched through the contents. "This first, then we'll put on the rest. Koto, help her stand up."

While they helped Fay change, Koto talked about the tournament fights, animatedly recounting them in great detail, one time almost punching Juri in the head in her enthusiasm.

Fay couldn't help get sucked in, thinking Koto would make a great storyteller or a writer, if she ever decided to become one.

"And then the stadium started collapsing so we got the heck out of there." Koto finished as she stood back and both demon girls observed their handy work.

"I told you the light blue would go great with her pale skin," Juri said proudly.

"You were right,' Koto agreed. "Though I never knew humans could be so pale."

"I'm not usually this pale you know,' Fay huffed. "I don't know why I'm like this now but I hope it goes away soon. I don't think I could go through life looking like someone scared the living day lights out of me."

"Oh don't worry about it; I think it looks nice, especially with that dress." Juri reassured her.

"Are you three done in there?" Suzuka's voice reached them.

"Yeah, you can come back now,' Fay called.

"Tada! What do you think," Juri stepped to the side so the boys could see Fay.

The dress she now wore resembled a light blue Chinese dress with two slits on the sides of the skirt, two white three petal flowers were clipped above the white ribbon that encircled her waist, while a light sash of white wrapped beneath her breasts to her back where it was tied into a bow. The shoes matched the dress in color, even to the ribbons that tied about her legs.

"That's a finer look to ye, Fay." Jin said before suddenly turning away, his attention on the forest.

Fay looked from one to another, wondering why all of them looked so tense now. Except for Koto and Juri, they looked as puzzled as she felt. 'Unless…oh no, does that mean a demon-'

"He's coming,' Shishi gripped the hilt of his sword, quickly placing himself between Fay and a sudden grey flash. He quickly unsheathed his sword and slashed diagonally.

There was a shriek and a grey bend over figure hit the ground, long bony hands wrapped about his stomach.

Juri gave a scared shriek and backed away behind Koto who looked on more interested than scared.

"Looks like we got ourselves a ning-nong here," Chu stepped closer to the demon, leaning down. "Doubt it was courage making him act."

The demon snarled and swiped long nails at Chu who easily dodged the attack.

"The human! Must, must have the human's blood!" The demon gave a chilling screech and launched himself forward, trying to get through Shishi and Suzuka. "The human's blood is delicious, give it to meee!"

Shishi slashed forward once more this time decapitating the demon. The head rose into the air before plopping down a few feet from Touya, the body thumping back to earth, twitching before finally going still.

"Did…did he just say he wanted to drink Fay's blood?" Juri asked, still sounding scared.

"Yeah, talk about blood-thirsty." Koto commented.

"I be thinking it's time we move, before any others come a knocking." Jin turned to look over at the three girls. "Fay, ye aright there?"

Fay had scurried back until her back had hit a tree when the demon had attacked, and now sat there while Juri half hid behind. She swallowed and nodded at Jin's question. "Yeah, it just…it just took me by surprise."

"Don't tell me you're scared," Suzuka asked. "You've been around fights long enough to see something like this happen."

Fay took a deep breath and made herself calm down. "It wasn't the demon I was scared off…per say. It was more the fact that he wanted to drink my blood. No one's ever wanted to drink my blood before." If it were possible, her skin paled even more. "At least…not yet…do you think the Vampires are going to want to do that?" she looked from Juri to Koto. "Neither of you are into the whole drinking blood thing, are you?"

Both girls pulled a face, "No thank you, I'd much rather stick to food that actually tastes good." Koto quipped while Juri nodded in agreement.

"Don't ye be worrying about that, we won't be letting nobody drink yer blood, Fay." Jin approached her, kneeling to her level. "And that be a promise."

Rinku walked over to join them. "We already said we'd take care of anyone who came looking for you. So don't look so worried."

"In which case we better do as Jin suggested and start moving." They turned to Touya as he walked over to the fire. "We'll head northwest, toward the barrier. I know of a place around there where we can set up camp for a while. Let's get moving."

"Right," The boys quickly went to work, Touya dousing the flamed while Jin used his wind to disperse the evidence of their camp. Chu picked up and folded the blankets, handing Touya back the shirt Fay had been wearing. Touya promptly handed it to Fay, telling her she could keep it, just in case.

In less than five minutes they were done and turned back to the girls.

"Do you think you two could make it back to the village on your own?' Touya asked Juri and Koto.

"Are you kidding?" Koto said in disbelief. "There's no way I'm going back when I just found this. Besides, I'm sure Fay will need more help from me later on." Koto looked over at Juri. "But I'm sure Juri can't wait to get back to her job."

"Oh…" Juri looked uncertain but quickly shook her head. "Uh, I think I'll stick with you guys for now."

"You girls better not slow us down," Rinku warned. "We're going to be moving fast."

"We're taller than you. And how can you move fast when she,' Koto pointed at Fay. "Can't even walk without limping?"

"Don't worry I'll manage, anything to get away from blood drinking demons." Determined, Fay placed a hand to the tree trunk and tried lifting herself up.

"There's no reason for you to be doing that,' Jin hurried over to her, lifting her into his arms despite her complaints. "We can't be having you getting hurt again, and I can fly just fine carrying you. Won't slow me down, not one bit."

Fay was suddenly getting flashbacks of Yusuke carrying her…without the flying part. It was just as embarrassing but... 'Flying…' now that she wouldn't be falling from the sky or would be carried off by a dragon that actually sounded fun. "I guess it can't be helped for the moment." She finally acquiesced.

"That's the spirit!" Jin grinned down at her, glad she had given in easily enough.

"We're not carrying either of you," Rinku told the other two girls.

"I wouldn't mind carrying one of you sheilas," Chu put in coming closer to them.

"No thanks, we can manage on our own two feet." Koto stepped upwind from him hoping that would lessen the alcohol smell wrinkling her nose.

"Then let's stop talking and start moving." Suzuka suggested, waiting for Touya to take the lead.

'I guess we can't do anything about those two now.' Touya thought moving to lead the way. For the moment they would have to come along.

The group headed out, moving as quickly as they could without leaving both Koto and Juri behind, although they did prove to be able to keep up with them for the most part.

They encountered four low level demons that were easily taken care of, then stopped an hour later by a stream.

They could have kept going but Koto and Juri had looked worn out, not to mention that Fay had begun turning paper white, her skin had become clammy and Jin had just barely placed her on her feet when she'd stumbled away and thrown up the contents of her stomach.

"Fay's not looking all that ripper, it's just not right." The group had moved away to give Fay some privacy, with the exception of Juri and Koto who'd stayed with her.

"I may know why her skin is so pale." The boys turned to Touya.

"You do?" Rinku asked.

Touya nodded, his gaze worried. "I think it may be a side effect of her body using what's left of her spirit energy to keep her alive, when by all accounts she shouldn't be." His eyes on the tree line that hid the girls, he continued. "She's practically forcing herself to stay alive, her body to keep working. I've never seen anything like it before, and I can't help but wonder…what could be so important that she'd go through all this?"

Rinku followed Touya's gaze to the trees, 'Fay's…supposed to be dead?'

"Is that even possible?" Shishi asked tone disbelieving.

Touya gave a slight shake of his head. "It shouldn't be, but then again Fay's not your typical human."

"If she keeps throwing up the food that's supposed to be helping her generate more energy, I doubt she'll be alive for much longer." Suzuka added.

"We can't be letting her die! Yusuke would never forgive us!" Besides, Jin liked the lass. She kinda reminded him of Yusuke…better looking though. He'd bet she was lots of fun to be round, when she wasn't so sick.

"Of course we won't let her die!" Rinku exclaimed fiercely. "We just uh…we just need to figure out what to do."

He looked up at Chu. "Right?"

Chu nodded, "Righto, mate. And I'm thinking moving her around so much might not be doing her much good."

"Once we get to where we're going she should have enough time to rest,' Touya said. "While the rest of us try to find a way through the barrier, if there is one. Or at the very least a way to contact Yusuke and his team." He turned to inspect their surroundings. "For the moment I think we should make camp here and keep going in the morning."

"Right." The group chorused.

* * *

"Feeling better?" Juri asked patting Fay's back. Fay nodded and splashed water onto her face to cool her heated skin. "One of these days there's going to be a fight where I don't end up dead, half dead, bleeding, or unconscious." Her tone was wistful.

"Where's the fun in that?" Koto asked, clapping a hand over her mouth when Juri shot her a glare. "Uh…I mean we'll pray for it. Ready to rejoin the guys?"

Fay washed out her mouth, blinked her eyes rapidly, and took a deep breath before straightening and getting to her feet with their help. "As ready as I'll ever be."

The three girls returned to find a cheery fire going and Suzuka, Touya, and Jin missing.

"They'll be back soon; they just went to scout the area." Rinku informed them when Fay asked about it.

"And you're to go back to sleep, sheila." Eyes narrowed, Fay stared up at Chu wondering if she was up to kicking him for forgetting, decided she wasn't and sighted. "Not like I'm going to argue with that," She muttered.

Fay fell asleep as soon as she lay down but this time her sleep didn't go uninterrupted. The dream returned, and with no Hiei to wake her from it, Fay found herself trapped in it but confused. 'This…this is the same forest I'm in.' It finally dawned on her that she'd been dreaming of this forest since the very beginning.

'But why, I've never been here before.' Fay tried to think. In the last dream she had been chasing someone…or trying to find someone. 'But who?' As if her thoughts had been the trigger, a tired and pain filled whisper reached her ears. 'No, the whisper's in my head.'

"Speak up!" she shouted into the night. "I can't hear you!" The whispering took on an almost desperate tone, and for some reason Fay felt almost frantic with the need to find whoever called to her. She whirled to her right there beneath the trees, hidden in shadow she could almost make out a figure.

"Hold on I'm coming!" She ran forward only to have the figure disappear like a ghost. Fay didn't stop running, she had a direction now and she would find this person. They needed her help.

"Fay!"

Her eyes snapped open and she jerked up at the sound of Jin's voice almost colliding with him, luckily he quickly moved back. "Ye okay? Ye were muttering somethin fierce in your sleep. Couldn't wake ye up for a whole five minutes."

Fay pushed hair out of her face not bothering to attempt a smile; she doubted she could pull it off anyway. "Sorry, I had a dream. It's actually happened before. Nothing to worry about." She didn't know who she was trying to reassure, them or herself.

"You were talking about someone being hurt and in need of help?" Suzuka's words came out as a question; one Fay couldn't answer since she didn't even understand it herself.

"It's fine really. Just a dream."

"Sounds more like a nightmare." Shishi commented from his perch on a boulder.

"I guess…" Fay pulled back the covers and climbed to her feet.

"Hold it, ye can't be getting up just like that, ye need rest." Jin protested.

She managed an embarrassed smile. "I kinda…need to take care of business…umm, on my own."

"Oh,' Jin scratched the back of his head, trying to hide his own embarrassment. "Sorry, do ye be wanting us to wake up the girls then?"

Fay shook her head, "I'll be fine on my own, I think I'm finally getting better." She spoke cheerfully trying to sound convincing. It didn't appear to work all that well.

"Don't take too long and don't go too far. Remember that there are demons after you." Touya warned.

"I know I'll be back soon."

Fay made her way far enough from the camp to take care of her urgent business, after which she started back, pausing by the stream to wash her hands and wishing for a bar of soap. 'Guess what they say about having things and losing them is right.'

She sat by the stream for a while looking up at a sky that didn't appear to boast stars or a moon. And wondering what Kurama and the others were doing at that moment. 'I know they'll find me. I just have to wait till then.' Finally, Fay got to her feet and turned to go when the whispering in the breeze stopped her.

Slowly Fay turned her gaze scanning the woods. 'This is it! These are the woods!' Which meant that whoever needed her help was somewhere here!

Had she stopped to think, Fay would have raced back to the camp for help. Instead the girl splashed into the knee high cold water and raced the other way, deeper into the woods almost knowing where to go. 'Hold on I'll help you, just wait a little longer.'

Not pausing once on the other side of the stream, she turned left and headed deeper into the woods hesitating only when the whisper, stronger now, danced its way into her hearing.

"_No...come it's…please….help."_ Fay only caught those five words, the rest too faint to make out, but what she did hear made her speed up and almost trip. She righted herself quickly and kept going, forcing herself to ignore the warnings her body was pounding into her to stop or regret it, even more than she already had.

* * *

"Fay what's taking so long?" Yawning, Juri and Koto stopped by the stream.

"Are you sure she was supposed to be here?" Juri rubbed sleep from her eyes and glanced around.

"Well she couldn't have gone too far, not in her condition." Koto stepped closer to the stream, crouching when she caught sight of the tracks. 'Oh oh.' The fox girl quickly stood and headed back to camp, dragging Juri behind her as she passed.

"Hey! What's wrong?"

"I think Fay might have fallen into the stream…or crossed…or someone must've taken her across."

Juri's eyes widened, "But wouldn't the guys have sensed it?"

"Since they sent us to look for her, I don't think so." The two burst into the camp, turning all eyes to them.

"Fay's gone,' Koto pointed. "Across the stream."

She jumped to the side as Jin hurled by while Juri ducked underneath.

"Jin, hold on!" Touya ran after his friend with the others hot on his heels.

"You realize we could be walking right into an ambush, right?" Suzuka asked.

"Not like we have much choice mate, not if they took Fay." Chu answered quickly catching up and passing Touya.

"Shouldn't we have sensed whoever took her?" Rinku asked, last in line thanks to his height.

"Not if she left on her own," Touya answered grimly. It would be the only way they would be caught unaware. He knew Jin had figured it out too, and Touya doubted he was happy about it.

"But why? Fay knows she can trust us so why would she just up and leave?" Rinku demanded.

"Maybe someone lured her away," Shishi said. "Enough talking we'll find out ourselves once we catch up with her."

'Why does all of this involve so much running?' Juri silently wailed. Not that she would have stayed behind in the camp. Koto had insisted they follow immediately, hoping it led to a battle Juri was sure. Refusing to stay on her own, she'd had no other choice but to follow. 'Why do I get myself into these situations?'

* * *

Fay stumbled to a stop at the edge of the tree line. Beyond it stood one of the largest trees she had ever seen, rising high up into the air, its thick roots spreading out in all directions. She had a bad feeling about that tree, everything around it was dead and here and there Fay could make out skeletal pieces. She coughed, wiping at the perspiration on her brow and straightened.

That run shouldn't have made her so tired but circumstances being what they were, she supposed it was only to be expected though she still resented it. 'Okay Fay, whoever needs help is around here. We just need to find him.' It was a him, she was sure of that.

Taking a last gulp of air Fay stepped past the tree line, carefully placing her feet and edging closer, gaze scanning her surroundings for the one who had called to her.

A voice boomed then, eerie and appearing to come from the tree. "Simple little human, it is so easy to reel in your kind. A pathetic call for help and you come running."

Fay stiffened. "Are you saying that you were the one who called?" No, it wasn't possible…was it?

The voice laughed as the wood high in the trunk shifted, creating a hole from which a figure trapped in roots was dragged and dangled like a toy. "It was this sad creature who helped. He so wanted to reach his dear friend,' the voice mocked. "And instead made contact with such a delicious human."

Fay shuddered but kept her ground, even managing a step forward. 'He's hurt…no he's dying.' He was practically nothing but skin and bones, almost a twig himself. What remained of his clothes looked ready to disintegrate while his long black hair was thick with grime.

Like a toy in a taunting child's hand, he was swung about. "Do you want him little human? Shall I give you the demon?"

Fay knew what the tree demon was doing but she could feel the trapped demon's pain through her own, and she needed to help.

"Yes,' she snapped angrily. "Give him to me now!"

The tree laughed once more; swallowing the demon's lower half back into itself. "I let the demon go and you replace him. What of that little human?"

"Ye'll not be getting ye're dirty roots on Fay!" The wind picked up around her as Jin landed in front, glaring up at the tree.

"Jin!" He glanced back at her, though unlike before, he didn't grin.

"Why didn't ye come looking for us? Ye know we would help."

Fay looked down, biting her lower lip. "I'm sorry, I didn't think about it. I…kinda just acted." 'Stupid.' She added silently.

His expression softened. "Aye, ye surely did. Mind ye don't go doing it again."

"I'll do my best." She half promised turning her attention back to the tree in time to see one of the roots lash out.

"Jin, the root!"

"Shards of Winter!" Touya's attack sliced through, the piece falling to the ground frozen.

"I take it you already talked this out?" Touya asked Jin as the rest of the group set themselves at his sides.

Jin nodded, "Aye, so we did." He turned to look up at the demon tree. "Now we just need to be getting rid of that."

"You have to rescue him!" Fay pointed up at the trapped demon. "He's alive but just barely. If we don't get him help soon he won't last."

"Is he the reason you ran off?" Rinku asked.

Fay nodded. "Yeah, so we need to help him."

"Are you sure he's alive?" Koto stopped next to Fay, Juri right behind her. "He doesn't look like it."

The tree boomed out a dark laugh, bringing out the unconscious demon once more.

"There is only one way for you to rescue him and I've already made it clear what I want." The roots around the demon tightened painfully, soliciting a weak scream of pain from the captive.

"Don't!" Fay cried out. She would have taken a step forward but Jin, standing in front of her, impeded that.

"Don't go getting any bad ideas, Fay. We'll be bringing him to ye, just you wait."

"Let's see you try it!" The demon tree stuck his captive half back into his trunk. Beneath them the ground began to rock, thick roots splitting the earth open and lashing out like striking snakes at the group.

They ran forward to meet the roots while Koto and Juri dragged Fay back.

"They won't be able to concentrate if you're close to danger." Juri said when Fay struggled against them. She stopped struggling and nodded moving back with them.

"Just you wait; we're going to turn you into fire wood!" Rinku hurled his yoyos at two different roots. The yoyos wrapped around them, yet the roots seemed unaffected by the shock delivered to them.

"Oh oh," Rinku said as the roots lifted him higher and higher.

"Rinku!" Chu paused after breaking a large root in half, looking up at the younger demon. "Don't just swing about like a drongo!" His attention returned to his own fight when Shishi dashed past him, cutting down an attacking root.

"Pay attention to your own fight, Rinku can take care of himself."

"Right, thanks mate!" Chu grabbed a hold of another root.

"What do you think I'm trying to do!" Rinku shouted down. He swung himself above one root, landing atop it. He waited for the other root to come at him before jumping to another, leaving the two to crash against each other. "Ha!" he grinned, swiping at his nose before jumping again. 'Just you wait; I'll take you down just as soon as my yoyos are ready.'

* * *

"Rainbow Cyclone!" Suzuka let his attack fly at the roots closing in on him, smirking when they were quickly cut down. "This won't take too long to finish."

"Tornado fist!"

Suzuka looked up, eyes widening as Jin hurled his attack…straight at him, or so he'd thought for a second. The attack passed above his head making Suzuka dodge quickly, and slammed into the roots behind him.

"You could give more warning you know! Have you any what that could have done to my beautiful hair?"

"So don't go crowing before it's all said and done, get yerself killed that way, so ye will!"

"I know that!" Suzuka turned to the next root, a smug tilt to his lips. "But what's wrong with just stating the obvious." He ran forward preparing to attack, only to feel a root wrap about his leg and trip him.

"What?" The root rose into the air dangling him by the leg. 'Okay, so this might just take a little longer than I thought.' Those were his thought until realization struck.

"Told ye so!" Jin changed direction and headed for Suzuka but found himself dodging vine after thick vine.

"Don't let any of them touch you!" Suzuka shouted. "They'll suck away your energy!"

"Now ye be telling me!" One had already caught at his wrist but was quickly dislodged, only to be replaced by more, and more.

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!" Shishi called the dark spirits forth but instead of destroying the roots, the ghostly skulls disappeared into them making them grow before his eyes.

* * *

Touya cut down another root only to have another take its place. 'Looks like I'll have to use one of my stronger attacks.' He cut down the root and spared a glance at his friends, surprise flashing in his eyes when he saw how they were holding up.

The energy blast Chu let loose forced Touya to cover his face against the flying debris, which in turn blinded him to the root snaking its way to his left.

"Touya watch out!" Rinku fell atop the root, trying to wrestle it like an alligator.

The Ice Master cut it down, catching Rinku with the other hand before he fell to the ground. "Thanks Rinku."

"Sure, but I think we might have a problem."

"What's that?" Touya asked.

"Well you see, my yoyos didn't have any effect on the roots and when I tried to use one of my stronger attacks, it just drained all the energy.' Rinku's eyes widened. "Oh and we might want to start running now!" Rinku pointed and Touya looked up.

"Everyone move!" Touya shouted running after Rinku and trying to scan for the rest of the group.

Jin was busy hurling another tornado fist at the incoming tsunami of enormous roots, Chu was wrestling with four large roots twice his size, Shishi was trying to get to Suzuka who dangled above, weakly trying to get out of his own predicament. 'Damn! This was not how this fight was supposed to go!'

Touya stopped running and turned back. 'I'll try to freeze the tree. I just hope it works.'

"I can't believe it, they're getting creamed!" Koto watched in disbelief.

"Shouldn't we be running then?" Juri inquired, tears at the corners of her eyes. "I don't want to become fertilizer too!"

Koto looked from the fighters to Juri, her gaze undecided. On one hand she wanted to stay and watch the fight, on the other hand… "Well I guess it would fall to us to keep Fay out of that demon's reach sooo, let's go Fay!" behind her Juri nodded emphatically. "Like right now!"

Koto tilted her head, stepping closer to Fay when she didn't move. She wasn't even looking at the fight. Her head was bowed, her expression hidden by darkness but she could see the tears running down her face. When she finally did look up, Koto wondered at the angry expression on her face.

The fox girl stepped back. "I…uh, guess if you really want too we can stay to watch a little longer."

"That's not what I'm angry at." Fay spoke softly, her tone heated.

While her friends had been fighting she'd tried to make contact with the imprisoned demon, surprised when she'd actually succeeded.

"_Hold on, my friends will take care of that evil tree!" _

"_I warned you not to come."_ Even his mind voice had been weak, as if on the brink of death.

"_That's not what I heard."_ she sent back.

He whispered the words he'd sent to her earlier yet now she heard all of them.

"_No, don't come it's a trap. Please go back, I am beyond help."_

"_Well that's just too damn bad for you because I'm not leaving this place without you!"_

The chuckle she heard in her mind was a very weak one.

"_I was never supposed to make contact with you. I only sought to send a farewell to my friend, now…' _It sounded as if he forced himself to continue._ "Please, find him and tell him for me." _

"_You can tell him when you're better, just hold on until then." _She hesitated but in the end her curiosity won out. _"How did you end up that…thing's prisoner?"_

The silence stretched so long Fay started to worry he'd really died, but then the images began.

The first images were of his life before that night, it showed her what happened the day he was separated from his best friend. He'd prayed for death instead he'd been kept alive by the demon they'd stolen from. He had been told that he would pay dearly for what he and his friend had done. The guards had dragged and dumped him here where, before he'd had a chance to escape, the roots had dragged him into a prison of long suffering that the demon tree refused to end, always keeping him just barely alive…as bait, he'd finally been told.

For the very first time in her life, Fay found out what fury felt like. She wanted this demon tree dead for what he'd done. She would accept no other outcome.

"That's new." Juri and Koto watched as power flared out from the human girl, raging about her like a barely contained fire. Her eyes took on an aquamarine glow as she looked up at the demon tree.

Even Jin had been trapped in the hundreds of roots the demon possessed. Fay now understood how old it was and how it had managed to change from just a simple tree to what it now was. Her eyes narrowed. "You won't live another day."

The demon tree boomed out a laugh at her words. "And how will you manage that when I have captured all your protectors?"

She looked from one to another. "I want him dead!" The girl snapped. "Now!"

"You an me both Fay, but-" Chu felt a ripple run through his body, followed by an immense rush of power he'd never experienced before. He laughed, grabbing at the roots that trapped him and easily disintegrating them with the smallest of pressure. "Okay then, you want the nong dead, no sweat." He gathered energy between his palms and launched it at the tree.

Rinku's yoyos struck the roots, splintering one after another and setting Rinku free. The demon boy landed on his feet, a grin on his face. "Now why don't we try this again? I'll show you what a real Yoyo Master can do!" One after another he let loose his yoyos to strike at roots that quickly fell lifeless to the ground. "Don't tell me that's all you've got? I'm just getting started!"

Suzuka raised himself up, twisting from the root's grasp and landing in a crouch beside Shishi.

"Can you feel it?" Shishi asked, letting his power flare about him and burn away any roots coming close. "I never knew I could be so strong until now." His smirk was dark as he looked up at the towering tree. "I feel as if I could take this demon down on my own."

"Why don't we make a contest it of it? We'll see whose attack finishes this tree off." Suzuka suggested gathering his new found power.

"That'll be me doing the winning!" Jin had used his wind to cut up the vines, and now flew past Suzuka and Shishi, already powering up his attack. "Tornado Fist!"

* * *

The roots about him were frozen and any that came near suffered the same fate. Not that Touya paid them any attention; they were of little interest now. Instead he stared down at his hands, marveling at the power he could feel flowing through him. 'So this is what she can do.'

His blue gaze turned worried. 'She's more dangerous than I thought.' If someone like Risho ever managed to get his hands on it, he didn't know if they'd be able to defeat him. 'Or someone like this.' Touya looked up at their opponent. Its movements were more frantic now; the mocking laughter gone, replaced by angry and even pain filled screams.

"Enough playing around guys, it's time this battle came to an end."

"Ah, Touya I was just beginning to have fun." Rinku protested.

"This isn't about having fun, it's about destroying this tree completely and rescuing its prisoner. Jin,' Touya looked up.

"Already on it!" Jin called down dodging roots and vines, yet before he reached his destination a scream from Juri made him turn their way.

"Someone help me! I don't want to be eaten by a treeee!" Juri wailed as a root tried to drag her off.

"Don't move so much, I…can't…hold on!" Koto had grabbed the water demon's hand and was trying to keep her from being dragged off but it was proving difficult. She glanced at Fay. "A little help would be appreciated!"

The human girl didn't appear to hear her; instead she stood there, energy still whipping about her as she stared up at the demon tree's prisoner.

Roots sprouted from the ground around them, startling Koto into letting Juri go.

"Noo!" Juri shouted.

"Juri hold on! I'll…' Koto looked one way then the other. They were surrounded by roots. 'How am I-'

"Take care of it quickly." Koto turned to the human. She wasn't even sure she could call whoever this was Fay. She…didn't sound right. As for her order, Koto found herself nodding and nimbly jumping over the roots. 'Wow, didn't know I could do that.' Or that she could run so fast.

Koto passed Shishi and Suzuka as they headed back, quickly cutting down the roots imprisoning Fay, but didn't stop by Chu who'd already rescued Juri.

Later on Koto would wonder what exactly she'd been thinking, doing something so stupid. At the moment however it just seemed what she was supposed to do. With her new found speed Koto raced towards the demon tree. She jumped, landing on one of the roots before jumping again and finding another foothold.

"Now what's she doing?" Jin muttered watching Koto run.

"Jin!" The wind Master looked down at Touya. "Let Koto take care of that, you need to destroy the branches at the very top. Go for the thickest! We'll take care of the roots down here!"

Jin looked up. 'Can't even see the tippy top from here,' not that destroying them would be a problem at his current power level. The only reason they hadn't completely destroyed the demon was because of its captive. 'Right, here goes!' he sped upward.

* * *

"Do you think I will let you take him!" The demon's voice sent shivers down Koto's spine, but instead of doing the sensible thing and running away from it, she kept going even speeding up.

"I have lived to long to be defeated by you flesh demons! I will have that human!"

Tremors wracked the ground as what could pass for the demon's legs, two immense roots, began to surface.

Koto could see the captive demon being swallowed back into the bark and a new surge of power gave her speed. She reached the demon, yanking him out with an unknown strength.

The demon tree roared its anger, and that's when what she'd been doing sank into her. Koto lost her footing, quickly found herself and the unknown demon tumbling down.

"This wasn't part of the deal! I don't fight, I watch the fights! Someone get me out of here!"

Instead of hitting the ground, as she had expected, they hit a wet surface. 'What?'

"Hey Koto! Look what I can do isn't it great?"

Koto looked down from the top of the waterspout to Juri who waved up at her smiling.

'Why couldn't I get that power?'

"Could you get me down now, before that thing decides to-" Her hair stood on end as the demon tilted dangerously to the left, it gave an angry screech as it righted itself and made a grab for Koto and the unconscious demon.

By then however, Juri had brought them down and both girls were running at full tilt, Chu following with the demon on his back.

The demon tree was instead met with Shishi and Suzuka's attacks. The attacks tore into its bark, burning and making it stagger back. From above a slow moving black liquid began trickling down, much like blood. Around it thick red branches began to fall.

"Done with me part!" Jin raced back down tugging of the last remains of dark red leaves.

"Time to finish it?" Rinku asked coming to stand beside Touya.

Touya smiled. "Yes, time to finish it."

His attack froze the immense tree completely, down to the very roots. The rest of the attacks shattered it until not even dust was left of the demon tree.

The power they'd experienced left them as Fay collapsed to her knees, the glow in her eyes dimming.

"Where is he?" she asked looking up as the group gathered around her.

"Here you are." Chu set the demon down next to Fay. She placed his head on her lap and closed her eyes.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, I suggest you don't,' Touya's voice held concern and warning. "As it is you've already over expanded your power. What matters is that he's alive."

Fay shook her head, her eyes closing. "I need to do this or he dies. I can feel him slipping away already."

"But what about you?" Rinku demanded. "If you do that you could die too."

Fay smiled grimly. "Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt."

Jin stepped forward determined to stop her, but Chu set a hand on his shoulder.

"Ye can't mean to let the lass do it. She'll be dying and then what'll we tell Yusuke?"

"Don't go yabberin nonsense mate. We'll make sure it don't happen."

"I'm with Jin on this one, or haven't you noticed how much like a ghost she looks?" Suzuka pointed at the kneeling girl. He didn't think her skin could go any paler than what it was now. Except for the aquamarine cast to it as she used her power on the unconscious demon, she looked as pale as…well death.

"He looks better though." Juri's words brought their attention to the unknown demon. She was right, his body no longer looked as thin as it had been, his clothes appeared to be fixing themselves, and even his hair started to look clean. It was as if someone were reversing time on the demon until he was healthy once more.

"Fay, enough!" Jin set a hand on the girl's shoulder and knelt. "He'll be aright now, so stop."

She did, the energy faded from around Fay and she leaned heavily against Jin, her eyes still closed. Jin's ears twitched, his eyes growing wide with panic. "Her heart! I can't hear her heart!"

* * *

AN: Reviews; stimulation for the brain, enough said. Till next chapter.

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_My name is Kuronue." _

'_That's jumping to conclusions.'_

"_Sorry to cut your plans short…"_

"_There's so many of them!"_


	34. Chapter 34: Demon Battle

CHAPTER 33: Demon Battle

He awoke feeling...different. It took a few seconds for Kuronue to understand what this meant. For such a long time he'd either woken to chains or the pain inflicted on him by the demon tree as it slowly bleed away his energy. Every time Kuronue had wished it would simply finish him off, but it never had. Always it stopped just before Kuronue's death and left him to recover some of his strength for the next feeding. This time he felt none of that.

The thought that like many times before, this would end up being a dream and he would wake up wishing for his death had him tensing, but as the seconds ticked by and he wasn't dragged away to another hopeless awakening, he could do nothing but marvel at the thought. He was finally free.

Whispers finally penetrated his thoughts and his ears twitched, trying to make out the words.

'How long do you think we'll have to hide out here?"

"As long as we can. We can't risk Fay's life again, and we need him to wake up too."

"Right we can't! Fay almost died for sure!"

"I didn't know you could bring humans back to life by pushing down on their chests or blowing air in their mouths."

Kuronue recognized this voice more clearly. It was the female fox demon Fay had sent after him.

"It wasn't just that. She barely had any life energy left. If Jin and Suzuka hadn't donated some of their spirit energy, make no mistake, she would have died."

"I told her it was a trap." He sat up bringing their attention to him. "Fay is very...impulsive."

"I thought it would take you a lot longer to wake up." This came from the demon child.

"You forget Fay used her power on him. It shouldn't be surprising to see him wake up only an hour later. Even with everything he went through."

"I'm curious, how do you know Fay's name, mate. Fer that matter, what's your name?" Chu asked.

"You mentioned her name once, but even before then, I knew who she was. As for my name it's Kuronue."

Surprise registered across both Touya and Suzuka's expressions. "You mean to tell me you're Kurama's old partner?" Suzuka asked sounding incredulous. "According to the stories I heard, you were killed in a botched burglary."

Kuronue's weak smile was self mocking. "I wish that's what had happened but as you see, the story that was spread was wrong. I was left to suffer more than anyone should have at the hands of that demon." His gaze traveled from the group of demons to the figure laying only a few feet from him.

Her overly pale skin surprised him; he'd pictured her coloring to be darker, warmer. However the rest of her appearance matched his image of her.

Turbulent indigo blue eyes warmed, his smile softened. "That I didn't die and reached her instead of Youko; perhaps it was all fate."

"Fate, how?" Juri asked.

Kuronue scooted closer to the sleeping girl, reaching out and caressing her cheek with his knuckles. "How else, we must be meant for each other. It would be the only explanation."

'That's jumping to conclusions.' Koto thought sweat dropping.

"Hold on now! Ye can't just go deciding that on yer own!" Jin objected. "Fay should be having a thing or two to say about that, fer sure."

Kuronue shot him a confident smirk. "She'll feel the same way, of course. Why else would she risk her life for me?"

"Pss!" Koto leaned closer as Juri whispered in her ear. "Didn't he just say that Fay was impulsive?"

"Yeah, go figure," Koto looked from Kuronue to Jin. Kuronue still had that smug smile while Jin was glaring down at him. Her smile suddenly turned scheming. 'Although this might not be a bad thing.' Especially if it led to a battle. A former shinobi of demon world and Youko Kurama's old partner in an all out fight. Her eyes began to sparkle in excitement at the thought.

"Koto?" Juri tried to catch her attention. Koto caught herself and coughed. "Sorry, I was just…uhh…thinking."

"Enough you two." Touya recalled their attention. "This isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves." He turned to Chu and Rinku. "Go scout out the area. I doubt our battle went unnoticed, especially the energy Fay put out back there."

"Right let's be off then, Rinku." Chu stood and headed for the set of steps that led up.

The group's current hideout was an underground chamber Touya's old Master had shown him when he'd still been training. The doors that led outside were well camouflaged on the floor of the forest.

The door opened as Chu pushed it, stepping out. He held it open while Rinku climbed the steps and joined him outside.

"We'll be back soon!" Rinku called down before Chu let the door fall.

"Do you think what Kuronue said is true?" Rinku asked.

"Personally I think the bloke's gone a bit batty…no pun intended. But we'll see when Fay wakes up. Our job's to look out for any drongos hoping to sneak up on us."

"And we won't let them! I'll take out any demons I find!" The two took off in different directions, Rinku taking to the trees to be able to sneak up on anyone looking for them. It didn't take him long to find someone. Five minutes into his scouting he came across two low class demons.

Rinku quietly watched them from the trees as they sniffed. "We're close." The dark skinned demon said. "The human shouldn't be too far from us."

"But what will we do about the demons that have it?' the red skinned demon asked.

"The scents I caught were those of Chu and Suzuka. We're nowhere near strong enough to take them on."

"We don't have too; all we want is the human. Once we have it we'll run."

"Sorry to cut your plans short,' the two demons looked up as Rinku jumped down from the trees, his yoyos swinging down. "But Chu and Suzuka aren't the only ones you have to worry about!"

The yoyos struck the demons, hurling them away. "Try this neat trick!" The yoyos wrapped around the demons and tightened, zapping the screaming demons.

'They didn't even put up a fight.' Disappointed, Rinku watched the demons fall limp to the ground.

He supposed they had been hoping Fay's power made them a whole lot stronger. He knew it would.

Rinku kept going, encountering three other demons separately but like the first two, were easy to finish off. 'I guess I better get back and tell the others about this.'

He was about to head back when a glint of light caught his eye. Rinku turned back, crouching and dusting leaves and dirt out of his way. 'What would glass be doing here?' he gripped the small piece and pulled, dislodging it out of the ground on the second try. 'It kinda looks like a broken shell.' The shell was also covered with different colored precious stones, what he had thought was glass was actually a diamond, or what looked like one. Rinku doubted any were real, but he still wondered what something like this was doing in the middle of a forest. Finally shrugging it off, he pocketed. 'Maybe Fay will like it.' It looked like something a girl might. He headed back, meeting Chu near their hideout.

"What's wrong Chu?" Rinku asked, noticing the older demon was frowning.

"I fought myself twelve demons, two of them were almost a challenge."

"Aah, lucky you,' Rinku pouted. "All I found was five and none of them put up much of a fight." He kicked at a rock near his foot while Chu's frown deepened.

"That makes a total of seventeen found near us."

Rinku finally understood. "Finding so many near isn't good."

"Come on then. We better let the others know."

They rejoined the rest of the group beneath the ground, noting that the new addition to their group, Kuronue, was already on his feet and keeping a careful guard over Fay.

"Well?" Touya asked turning to the two. Chu explained the results of their scouting.

"Isn't that bad?" Juri asked panic in her voice. "If any demons find us we'll have nowhere to run." And she really, really wanted space to run for it. 'I should've stayed back in the village.'

"Don't act so scared. Even if demons find us,' and Koto really hoped they did, "There's no way any of them will be strong enough to take on one of them, let alone all seven." She gloated as if it were her doing.

"If there are enough demons they could take us down," Kuronue spoke up. "And we have to remember that they aren't after us, they're after Fay."

"Oh…yeah." Koto muttered.

"We'll stay here for as long as we can." Touya said. "We can't move Fay just yet. We'll leave moving as our last option. Jin and I will take care over scouting. Suzuka, Shishi, you'll be next."

The two nodded. "Let's go Jin." Touya turned back to Jin, finding him whispering to Rinku.

"Uhh… sure. I'll do that," Rinku answered.

"Great, thanks pal." Jin gave him a thumps up and flew past Touya.

"What did he tell you?" Juri asked once both Jin and Touya had gone.

"Oh, nothing." Rinku answered nonchalantly, trying to steal a look at Kuronue without him knowing. It wasn't easy. 'Why would Jin want me to keep an eye on Kuronue? He's one of us…right?'

'Oooh!' Koto fumed, grinding her teeth together. 'I wish something would happen!' She'd imagined traveling with this group would be more…exiting. Not that the last fight hadn't been great to watch, except for the whole being made to participate, but couldn't they fight an opponent that actually bleed blood? 'Though come to think of it…that demon tree bled some kind of…liquid.' Still she'd been busy running so she hadn't had time to enjoy it. Which brought her back to, 'Why isn't anything happening!' It was almost enough for a referee to tear her hair out.

"Pss!" Koto turned to Juri when she scooted closer to her.

"What's up?" she whispered.

"Shouldn't we, like be making a run for it? If a fight like the one at the tournament breaks out we could get killed! I still have plans you know!"

"Are you kidding?" Koto retorted in disbelief. "Even if I did want to make a run for it, didn't you hear Chu? There are demons out there looking for Fay. They would be able to smell her on us, then what do we do?"

Juri's face blanched at the thought. "Okay, I think we better stay here where it's safe."

"Just what I thought," Koto said. Besides, she was hoping that fight broke out soon.

An hour later, Touya and Jin returned reporting their own encounter with two demon groups of ten. Looking almost eager, Suzuka and Shishi took off and returned an hour and a half later to report their own encounters. This time at his insistence, Kuronue joined Chu and Rinku, after the younger demon quietly reported to Jin.

This pattern continued for a little over two days, making Koto impatient and Juri sleepy. She didn't really mind the absence of action; it meant they were still safe. They'd also told her not to try to wake Fay, whose skin had actually begun to take on some color, but Juri didn't think sleeping like a veritable rock was a good thing. After all didn't she like need to eat and go bathroom? So Juri had tried to wake Fay up, while the others were busy discussing plans, by tickling her nose. It didn't work the way Juri had wanted it, but the human girl did wiggle her nose and whisper before turning away. 'Did she just say Kurama?' Juri thought.

On the third day, having nothing else to do, much like before, in the 'I'm so bored' hours as Koto called them, the demon girls soon fell asleep around noon.

Juri finally woke up yawning and stretching, causing Koto who was resting against her shoulder to hit the ground. "Oops, sorry." She apologized.

Koto glared up at her and opened her mouth to complain, unfortunately Fay chose that moment to wake up and instead of a complaint Koto uttered a yelp and grabbed at her head, Juri mirroring her actions.

"Crikey! Sheila control your power!" Chu exclaimed looking as if some force was trying to push him to his knees. The only being in the room that looked unaffected was Kuronue.

Panicked, Fay looked from Chu to Rinku, Suzuka, Shishi, and the girls. "What- I don't understand. What am I doi-"

Kuronue knelt before of her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Fay looked up at him, noting at the back of her mind that he had pointed ears and…bats wings on his back.

"Your power is overwhelming them, you must leash it."

"Good idea, how do I do that?"

Surprised, Kuronue blinked down at her. "You did it before; it almost felt as if you disappeared. The demon tree couldn't find you for a time." After a few seconds understanding dawned in Fay's eyes. "Oh, you mean that."

"Could you hurry up! It feels like my head's going to crack open," Rinku shouted.

Fay took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to concentrate. 'Okay, what did I do back then?' she thought back. 'I remember…those demons were after me. I didn't want to be found so I...' Praying it worked she began to chant those same words, picturing in her mind becoming invisible.

Minutes later she heard Rinku sigh in relief. "That's a lot better. But now I can't sense you at all."

Fay opened her eyes struggling not to huff. "Well you can't have it both ways; I just started doing this a few hours…days before, you know."

"Ouch, I have a headache." Fay looked over at Juri who was rubbing her head.

"I'm so sorry. I really didn't know that would happen."

"It's okay or it'll be once my head stops ringing." Juri said lying on the ground next to Koto whose eyes were whirling.

Fay's eyes darkened with guilt then narrowed when Kuronue brought her head to rest on his shoulder, or chest since even kneeling he was pretty tall. "Don't feel bad about it; no one would expect you to know how to control your power when it just awoke in you."

"Umm…thanks." Fay shot the closest to her, Suzuka and Shishi, a questioning look. Shishi looked away, still rubbing his head. Suzuka shrugged and glanced away.

'Oookay.' She pushed herself away from Kuronue, looking up at him. "I'm glad to see you're okay. I thought I'd pass out before I could fully heal you…you are okay, right?"

Kuronue nodded leaning closer to her, to which she responded by trying to scoot back, but he still had his hand behind her head and it was proving a little difficult. "You gave your life for me, I will never forget that…or you."

Fay knew it wasn't nice to hurt people that had already been hurt as much as Kuronue, but just then she was considering introducing him to her fist. Didn't the guy know what personal space meant?

The door to their hideout burst open, Jin and Touya rushing in. "Where's Fay?" Jin asked searching the room.

"Here," Fay raised a hand not that she'd needed too; he'd already caught sight of her.

"Ye did it again with the disappearing!" He turned a glare on Kuronue who still cradled Fay to him.

"Still can't control that part." Fay said trying to put some space between herself and Kuronue.

"I've been thinking,' Chu interrupted. "Why is it that we got pounced by her power and Kuronue didn't?"

"Good question, I assume it has to do something with her healing him." Touya answered locking the door behind him. "We felt it too, Jin barely managed a landing. But more importantly if we did, then other demons felt it as well. I don't think we can stay here any longer."

Once more Fay couldn't help feel that she was causing trouble for her friends, even with Yusuke's words echoing in her ears. 'They might have chosen to help but...' her thoughts were cut short when Kuronue stood up with her still in his arms.

"You know, I think I'm feeling much better now so could you please let me down?" Actually Fay still felt tired but she wanted to manage this on her own, just to prove that she could. So she put up a determined front as looked up at Kuronue.

He was tall, Fay bet he was almost, or maybe about as tall as the guy with white hair she'd seen twice now, and in his memories. 'They were partners and best friends...his name, it was Youko.' Maybe the others could help them find the white hair demon. Her heart began to beat faster at the thought of seeing Youko again. 'I…I could thank him for helping me.'

"You're not nearly as recovered as I am." Kuronue answered, bringing her back to the present.

"Kuronue give Fay to Jin, he can move more easily than the rest of us with her."

Jin grinned floating near Kuronue and holding out his arms. "So I can. Ye heard Touya hand Fay over."

Kuronue tightened his grip on her. "If its flying you're talking about, I can do that just as well."

"I can do it better, so I can," Jin shot back.

They argued above her, while Fay fondly remembered that once upon a time, she'd known guys that thought her competent enough to walk without tripping over her own feet. Sure she hadn't given that impression lately but in her defense…she'd fallen and had barely gotten up.

"Would you two stop arguing," Suzuka snapped. "We're wasting time."

"I doubt whoever's heading our way will wait for you two to settle your dispute, just hand her over to Jin." Shishi added already heading for the exit.

"If no one's going to let me walk, I'd go with what Shishi said. It just makes more sense," Fay put in. Kuronue hesitated a moment longer before finally giving in and handing her over to Jin.

"Drop her and I'll-"

"Right then! Let's be off!" Jin cut him off heading for the doors.

"Hold on don't leave me behind!" Juri cried running after the departing group.

"Well don't fall behind." Koto grabbed the water demon's hand and raced to catch up.

The group followed after Touya, only a few of them knowing he was heading closer to the barrier, or the space beneath it. They still hadn't managed to come up with a way to get through it or even get a message across, but they figured getting to a safer location was more important at the moment.

"Stop!" The group halted at Kuronue's command, looking to him in question.

"Care to answer why we stopped?" Shishi demanded.

"Don't you hear that?" Kuronue asked.

"Aye, I hear it too. Coming straight at us from the front." Jin's tone was grim as he landed on ground that began to vibrate beneath them.

"That's either a demon with really big feet or a stampede." Fay wished for the first but doubted she'd get her way. Jin set her on her feet as the hoard of demons came into view heading their way.

Juri began to panic. "There's so many of them! Are you guys sure you can take them all?" She whipped her head one way then another, looking for an escape route.

"Ha!" Chu stepped to the front of the group. "I'll take them down on my own."

"Don't think I'm going to let you have all the fun,' Rinku stepped up next to him, yoyos already spinning. "I'll take the other half, and then I'll help you with your half."

Chu laughed patting Rinku on the head. "Then let's go, mate." He turned to the others. "Keep going; we'll catch up just as soon as we finish with this brawl."

"Hold it, you can't be serious!" Fay protested. "They outnumber you three to one! You'll get yourself killed, and then what am I going to tell- Jin!" she finished when he picked her up.

"Ye should have more faith in them, Chu and Rinku can handle themselves, so they can."

"But…" Fay looked back at the two. 'I just don't want anyone to get hurt.' However she also remembered Yusuke telling her something a lot like Jin had just told her. She nodded as the rest of the group moved on. "Kick their butts!" she shouted back at the two. Chu looked over his shoulder and grinned, giving her a thumps up before he faced the demons.

"Ready Rinku?"

"Are you kidding? I've been ready for the last five minutes."

"Right then, let's go!"

* * *

"Out of curiosity, where are we going now?" Koto asked trying not to fall behind.

"Away from the fight would be good." Juri cried grabbing onto Koto's shirttails.

Touya suddenly halted, the others following suit.

"What's going on now?" Juri peered over Koto's shoulder, then wished she hadn't. "More demons!"

"Wow, Fay. That power of yours must really be something." Koto commented trying to make out how many were in the crowd heading for them. She finally decided that it was a whole lot of them. 'Guess I won't have to miss the fight after all.'

"Don't remind me." Fay grumbled grimly. Demons to the front and more at their back. Boy was this beginning to turn into a freakin public event!

"Keep going,' Shishi and Suzuka stepped past Touya, Shishi already unsheathing his sword. "We'll take care of this uninvited crowd."

Suzuka cracked his knuckles. "I'll blow them away with the beauty of my attack."

"You guys do that, let's get going everyone." Juri insisted, trying to hide her panic.

"Don't get killed you two. We'll see you later." Touya moved of in another direction; however they didn't take more than a dozen steps when they encountered another large demon group. Touya gritted his teeth. 'They're everywhere.'

Jin set Fay on her feet near Kuronue. "Right, looks like my turn to be up."

"We'll hold this group back." Touya said keeping an eye on the approaching demons. "Kuronue, it'll be up to you to get the three of them to safety while we take care of this group."

"I don't think that's going to be possible." Kuronue materialized a scythe at the end of a long chain and began to swing it in circles. Although it looked like he was an expert at it, Fay took a few steps anyway.

"Tsk!" Touya scoffed in irritation when he noticed they were boxed in. "You three stay back while we fight. Fay don't try…whatever it is you tried last time. I doubt we could revive you this time."

"Sure-hold on what?" Had she died again? Fay hadn't felt any pain this time around. 'Maybe that's why they could bring me back to life.' How many times had that been now, three? 'If there's a world's record for dying the most times, I think I'd win it.'

"Come on, you heard Touya. We need to scoot back, waaay back." Koto and Juri grabbed her arms and raced to the middle of the clearing.

"Isn't this exiting? Seven fighters up against hundreds! Now this is the kind of fight I wanted to see." Too bad she didn't have her microphone with her.

'That's right; she likes this type of stuff.' Fay thought. 'Well looks like at least one of us is happy with the turn of events.'

* * *

Kuronue let the scythe fly, deftly controlling it so that it brought down five demons on its first pass and quickly added to the count on the next.

"Tornado Fist!" Jin used his attack to blow away as many demons as he could, while Touya's Shards of Winter brought down those that Jin missed.

The ground shuddered as a large demon, clothed only in a panther stripped loincloth, stepped forward towering above everyone. Other demons followed after him while those that survived filed in. "All we want is the human, give her to us and you'll be free to go. There's no reason for you shinobi to keep it," The demon growled.

"Not interested!" The words came from above as Jin let another tornado fist fly. It slammed into the large demon, knocking him into the ground along with those that couldn't move away quickly enough.

"An here I thought this might be hard." Jin grinned until Touya called out a warning. Jin whirled to his left bringing a fist up and slamming it into the winged demon. 'Easy enough. Now to get rid of the rest.'

* * *

"Holding up there, Rinku?" Chu shouted over the cries of demons. He threw one of them over his shoulder to slam into another incoming demon and turned to the next.

"Uhh…I think I'm fine." Rinku pulled on his yoyo strings, finishing of the pair of demons and whirled to the next. 'There's so many!' He dodged and jumped into the air bringing his yoyos down in his version of 'walking the dog,' they mowed the demons in their path down but more quickly took their place.

He landed in a crouch and stood, stumbling back as demons hurled themselves at him. 'There's so many of them.' That was fine, he wouldn't give up until they were all dead.

* * *

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!" the demon skulls bit down on many of their attackers but more quickly showed themselves.

"Rainbow Cyclone!" The blast sent demons flying in all directions. 'Damn! Not nearly enough to make a difference!' Suzuka took a step back, hitting Shishi's back. "These idiots aren't even stopping to admire the beauty of my attack!"

"Not to mention there's so many of them," Shishi muttered.

"I'm not losing to a bunch of philistines!" Suzuka took a stance. "I'll teach you to admire my beauty! Rainbow Cyclone!"

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!"

* * *

"Umm…guys, I don't mean to sound unoptimistic or anything, but I don't think they're going to win this one." Juri sniffed hiding behind both girls.

"I think Juri's right," Koto said. While she was really enjoying the fight, she'd enjoy it more if she was completely sure that they wouldn't be dying soon. Right now, that's what it looked like. "They just keep coming, like roaches." She turned to Fay. "I know Touya said not to do that thing that you did last time, but I really think they could use the extra power."

"It's not that I don't want to do it, it's just that I don't think I can,' Fay answered grimly. "I've been trying to recall how I called on so much power but I just come up blank. All I'm getting is a headache." Frustrated she stomped on the ground, stilling as it rumbled beneath the trio.

"Was that you?" Koto looked down. The ground beneath them began to crack, then split up in big chunks as a large hand pushed through.

The girls screamed and raced away from the spot. Fay would have followed except that the hand caught at her ankle and tripped her. "Let me go! You failed experiment of a mad scientist!" she kicked out at the demon even as she tried to keep the skirt of her dress from falling around her hips when the demon pulled her up by the leg. 'This is why I hate dresses!'

The demon laughed as he pushed out of the ground, jerking her closer to his face. "So you're the delicious little human."

Fay shivered. She recognized his voice; it was the same demon who'd talked about eating her. He was even licking his chops as she watched.

"I am not becoming your stinkin dinner so let me go!" She brought a fist forward, attempting to hit him in the eye but he quickly jerked her away, looking down as stones began to pelt him.

"Let her go you stupid jerk! If you eat her, this'll be the end of the fights!" Koto shouted. 'Not to mention having to answer to those guys if she gets killed.'

Juri didn't really think this was the best idea, considering the demon was massive, but she went with it hoping he didn't try to step on her. "I just had a thought-waah!" Juri dodged as the demon made a grab for her. "Why don't we just go tell one of the others?" she asked.

"Do you see anyone not being mobbed by demons?" Koto asked. She'd already looked around. Fay's so called protectors were busy keeping themselves alive and even Jin, who'd spotted the trouble, was having trouble getting to them.

"Hold on! I'm a comin!" Koto heard him shout.

"Anytime soon would be good!" Juri shouted back, then screamed as the demon caught her in its fist.

"Now why would you be helping a human, hmm?"

"That's none of your business!" Juri cried out trying to wriggle free.

"Let her go! She's got nothing to do with this, you thing from the swamp!" Fay kicked out with her free leg again trying to hit him.

"Uhh…I'll go get help!" Koto shouted up at them, turning to run in the direction she'd last seen Touya.

"No you don't." Koto jumped back when the weasel demon landed in front of her scuttling toward her with a cackle, muzzle open to reveal sharp jaws.

"Hold it! You can't eat me; I'm the referee in this fight!" Not that she could bring any order to this battle, but whatever kept her alive.

Fay didn't know why she did it; maybe it was remembering what Koto had told her of the Dark Tournament, or the thought that flashed through her mind that as big as this demon was, he could take him down without breaking a sweat. Whatever the reason, Fay found herself taking a deep breath and shouting out his name. _"Hiei!"_

A flash of black, a sudden thump as the demon's head rolled of his head and hit the ground, and he was there, grabbing a hold of her and setting her down on the ground. All before the large body fell limp and hit the ground with a thud. Juri had managed to free herself the moment the demon's grip had slackened; she landed with an 'oomph!' on the dirt. 'Guess it would be too much to ask to be caught once in a while.' She thought spitting out dirt.

The weasel demon had retreated the moment his larger companion had gone down and was nowhere to be seen, not that Fay cared at all at the moment. With a shout of joy she launched herself at Hiei, hugging him tightly. "You came! I'm so happy to see you!" Fay expected him to jerk away from her and say something snide, instead he stood there almost patiently as she hugged him. "Are you done? I do have more pressing matters to attend too."

'And there it is.' Fay thought happily. She let go turning away when she heard the rest of their voices.

"Shotgun Blast!"

"Spirit Sword!"

"Rosewhip Thorn Wheel!"

"Spirit Wave!"

"Alright! They found us, and just in time!" Fay knew she was acting like a total cheerleader, but at the moment she hardly cared. All that she knew was that her friends had finally found her after what seemed like forever, tough it'd probably hadn't been more than a few days, and all these lowlifes didn't stand a chance. "Hey Hiei-" She turned back to find him gone.

"If you're looking, he went that way.' Juri pointed in his direction where a black flash was quickly decimating demon after demon.

"I guess this is what they mean by turning of the tide." Koto said excitedly. This was more like it!

"Can we please move away from here? This demon's still twitching." Juri said poking at the demon's body with her foot, when it convulsed, she quickly moved back.

"No argument against that." Fay headed in the direction of his voice, her heart beating faster.

"Let's just stay far enough from the fights; we wouldn't want to distract anyone while they're fighting," Koto reminded her.

"I won't," Fay assured her.

* * *

'Why doesn't this surprise me?' Yusuke thought as he passed through the portal into Demon World. Fay had practically started a war. He'd get the rest of the story from her later, but now...

"Hey Hiei, I think Fay's calling you. Go see what she wants."

Hn!" Hiei raced away as the others stepped through.

"Isn't that Jin over there?" Kuwabara pointed.

Yusuke looked up, grinning as he caught sight of the Wind Master. "What are we waiting for? Let's go help them!" Yusuke headed in Jin's direction taking down demons in his way. "Hey Jin, mind if I cut in?" he shouted. Jin turned his way, grinning. "Bout time ye showed up pal! Wouldn't mind a bit of help right now."

"You got it!" Yusuke pointed at a group of demons. "Shotgun Blast!"

Genkai wasn't in the least surprised that this scenario had come about, she had actually anticipated it. However until the letter, she had not anticipated that Fay's luck would hold and she would not only survive but meet this group. 'You do have the strangest of luck girl.' Her attention focused on a group of demons slowly trying to break through to the trio of girls in the middle. "Sorry boys, this is the end of the line for you. Spirit Wave!"

"Spirit Sword!" Kuwabara sliced through a demon, pausing to try to figure out who would need his help more. His gaze finally landed on the trio of girls in the middle. 'Guess I'll have to keep an eye on them.' He sliced through demons, heading in their direction.

"Hey Kuwabara, nice to see yah!" Fay waved as he got closer.

"Same here, especially after what Mary Anne said."

"Demon!" Juri pointed as a lizard demon managed to break through to them. Kuwabara stepped up in front of them, spirit sword in hand. "Don't worry ladies, I'll take care of this chump." He ran forward with a shout and sliced of the demon's tail when the demon dodged. "You will pay for that human!" The demon hissed then screeched as the sword sliced him in half.

"Go Kuwabara!" Juri cheered. Kuwabara smiled smugly, standing tall. "You girls just stand behind me. I'll do the rest.'

'Glad to see he hasn't changed,' Fay thought.

* * *

"Rosewhip Thorn Wheel!" The attack lashed out with a little more viciousness than usual, the movements mirroring the wielder's anger and frustration. 'It was his name she called, not mine!' It seemed as if it was always Hiei's name Fay called. A flick of his wrist and demon after demon fell to his attack.

"I see your attacks are as vicious as ever." The sound of the voice startled Kurama; the appearance of the demon that landed out of range of his attack stunned him, halting his attack. The transformation took Kurama without his meaning too, but soon enough Youko stood in place of the red head, though his expression was identical. "You…but how, I don't…I thought you had died." He couldn't help the hesitation in his voice. Youko had made his peace with the events of that day long ago, yet now before his very eyes…

Kuronue smiled, "As you can see I'm not dead. Though for a time it was a close call."

"For a time?" Youko had believed him dead, to now be told that Kuronue had been alive for some time added to the guilt he had thought conquered. Golden eyes narrowed at movement at the corner of his eye. Youko flicked his whip as Kuronue casually lashed out with his scythe. The attacking demons stood for mere seconds before falling to the dirt, never to move again.

The two bandits turned to the demons. "I find myself in a forgiving mood. Leave now and you will live another day. Stay and,' Youko's golden eyes glowed dangerously, "You will die, and this time I will make it painful."

A few feet from him Kuronue merely tilted his head, his dark hair sliding to the left.

The demons stepped back, muttering. The words Youko, Kuronue, and legendary bandits could be heard.

"Well?" Youko took a step forward and the demons bolted, soon disappearing behind trees.

Kuronue gave a low chuckle. "And still as frightening to everyone as before."

Youko turned back to him. "I will take that as a compliment. Now I'd like an explanation. If you were alive, why did you not seek me out?"

As if a battle weren't taking place around them, Kuronue explained what had happened to him. "I reached her instead of you, and she did more than I ever expected a human to do. It's because of Fay that I still live, she went as far as sacrificing her life for me, though luckily the others managed to revive her."

"I see,' Youko's eyes closed. "It seems I owe her more than I could ever repay." His eyes opened and he scanned the battleground for her. He wanted to go to her but in this form…would she accept him? 'How could she, she hardly accepts me in human form.'

"I haven't heard your explanation Youko." The fox demon turned back to his friend. "Why are you wearing a human form?"

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation."

* * *

"What the bloody are they doing?" Chu dropped the demon he'd head butted, looking over at the two tall demons. 'They might as well be having a dinner party.'

"Hey, Chu. I think the rest of the demons are retreating." Chu returned his attention to the fight or what was left of them. As Rinku had said, most of the demons left were retreating. Those that weren't outright running away warily looked on.

"Well!" he shouted. "If none of you bludgers are gonna fight you better start running before I really get serious!"

Most demons took his advice and disappeared into the dark woods, those that didn't were quickly wiped out by attacks.

"Hey, Chu! Nice to see yah man! I see you're still carrying that bottle around." Chu laughed at Yusuke's words and he ran over to join him, Jin and the others slowly gathering. "I hear you been tearing up opponents up in human world." He grabbed Yusuke in a choke hold and ruffled his hair. "It's not like I can leave it Kuwabara," Yusuke laughed.

"Hey! I can take care of bad guys on my own just as well!" Kuwabara objected stomping over to them. "I even managed to bring down an air elemental!"

"And how did you manage to get that lucky?" Kuwabara turned to glare at the speaker. "Did you sneak up from behind?" Shishi smirked.

"That's about right," Hiei responded.

"Shut up shorty!" Kuwabara snapped and turned back to Shishi. "And what the hell are you doing here, Sisiwakamaru?"

It was Shishi's turn to glare. "Obviously I've been picking up your slack. And it's Shishiwakamru you oaf!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why don't you try figuring it out yourself,' Shishi smirked. "Both parts."

"Would you two stop that, all this arguing is going to give me wrinkles. Besides don't we have more important things to worry about?" Suzuka cut in.

"And I have a question for you Yusuke."

Chu finally let go of Yusuke who turned to Touya. "Let me guess; how did we know you'd be here?"

Touya nodded.

"Aye, I'd like to know that to meself. Ain't saying that ye're timing wasn't great, but how'd ye know?"

"Well you see we got this letter-"

"Yusuke!" He was suddenly cut off as Fay slammed into him, hugging him tightly. "You're late you idiot!"

Yusuke ruffled her hair. "Sorry, it took longer than expected, but hey at least I made it."

"You mean we made it," Kuwabara put in.

"Yeah, whatever."

Fay stepped back, smiling up at him. "Well, just so you know,' she pointed over her shoulder at Chu. "I think they decided to take your job."

"Hold on, when did that happen?" He turned to Chu, then Jin.

"Well, you did lose the sheila."

"I thought I told you, it's Fay!" She glared up at Chu hands on hips.

"Right, my bad."

"You haven't answered my question!" Yusuke demanded.

"And you haven't answered mine, Yusuke," Touya reminded him.

Fay turned away from them. They could work out the details, she wanted to see one person in particular. Fay scanned the surrounding area for Kurama. 'I think...I think I'm brave enough to tell him now.' She had missed him so much that she'd even dreamed of the moment she could see him again.

AN: R&R. Till next chapter^^

_Next Chapter Preview_

"As they say; the best laid plans go astray."

"When did this happen?"

"This isn't a stupid soap opera!"

"It does get quite boring without prey in this house."


	35. Chapter 35: Return to Human World

CHAPTER 34: Return to Human World

"That's quite a story, Youko. It almost makes me jealous." Kuronue said once Youko had finished his tale. "I thought I'd get a chance to participate in the Dark Tournament and come out the victor. It would have sped up our once made plans."

"As they say; the best laid plans go astray." Youko responded. He turned to look over at the gathering group on the other side of the clearing. She was there hugging Yusuke, and although he knew their relationship was more of a sibling one, he still couldn't help the spike of jealousy. "I cast those plans aside long ago,' he glanced at Kuronue from the corner of his eye. "I trust you have too."

The bat demon nodded. "Yes, they no longer matter to me."

"Good." Youko took a step forward then paused, turning back to his friend. "One more thing; never speak of this form to Fay. She does not know it and I prefer it stays that way." As he spoke his form reverted back into human.

"I don't understand but I'll go along with it." Kuronue assured him after a moment of silence.

"Thank you." Kurama turned to lead the way back when he heard her call out his name. 'Did she see me change?' Apprehension took hold of him, yet she was running toward him without surprise, and she showed no fear of him.

'Fay.' His feet moved on their own taking him into a spring that ended when she launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He instinctively wrapped his arms about her waist. Her actions came entirely as a surprise but her words, those words he had longed to hear and speak himself, shocked him for the second time this day.

"I love you Kurama, and I've missed you so much." That's all Fay had thought she'd be able to do. She definitely hadn't planned on clinging to him, but without thinking she leaned up and kissed him.

He froze; however before she could start thinking that he would pull away, Kurama tightened his grip on her and returned the kiss. At which point she stopped thinking altogether.

'Couldn't this have waited?' Yusuke thought. This is the type of stuff Botan liked, not him. "So, while they're doing that I think we should,' Yusuke frowned as he noticed Jin. "Hey, Jin. Something wrong? You've practically turned to stone." Breaking stone.

A few feet from him Kuwabara's jaw hit the ground. "When did this happen?" he demanded turning to Yusuke.

"Don't ask me, I just dragged it out of Botan a little while ago." He defended himself. Of course that had happened once he'd figured it out himself.

"Well you could've told me!"

"When was I supposed to tell you? When you were unconscious from being stupid enough to get poisoned, or when you kept blabbing on about coming with us!" Yusuke yelled back.

"In between you idiot!" Kuwabara turned a suspicious eye on Hiei who turned away. "I bet you knew and didn't even tell me."

"Hn! Why would I get involved in such trivial matters?"

"I guess Kuronue's theory on fate's just been shot down." Juri whispered looked over at the bat demon on the other side. Even she could tell he looked surprised. 'Bummer for him.' But she thought this was kind of cute.

"Do you think they'll stop soon? This is getting kind of embarrassing." Rinku hid his face behind his hands, though he still peeked out.

A beeping sound reached them halting Yusuke and Kuwabara's argument. Yusuke reached into his pocket and brought out the communication mirror.

"Checking on your make up, Yusuke?" Suzuka teased.

Yusuke shot him a glare. "Why don't you say hello to Genkai, I'm sure you remember her." He opened the mirror.

"Hello to you from Human world, please tell me you found Fay and she's safe." Botan's image spoke.

"Yeah she's fine. Everything's just as the letter said."

"Oh! I'm so relieved, now I can tell the girls," She turned away. "Keiko, Shizuru, Yukina! Yusuke says Fay's fine!"

The three girls' relieved voices came through. "Can you put her on?" Botan asked.

Yusuke looked over at her. "Uhh...' he scratched his cheek. "She and Kurama are a little busy. I think they're trying to break the world's record for longest kiss."

"Whaat!" Botan's tone turned outraged. "Tell them to stop it this instant!" she made an annoyed sound. "None of that is supposed to happen without me around to spy on! I'm the reason their relationship went so smoothly, so tell them to get themselves back here now! I'm opening the portal."

Yusuke sweat dropped. "Okaay." He looked over at the two. "You two going to be finished anytime soon? Botan's opening the portal now."

Kurama slowly drew back leaving Fay with a dreamy expression on her face. He cupped her cheek and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you as well. I have longed to say those words for some time, yet your attitude towards me-" Kurama blinked in confusion when Fay suddenly jerked herself away, backpedaling so fast she ended up on the ground.

"Didn't she just throw herself at him?" Suzuka asked. "Why's she suddenly running away again?" What's more…why was he even watching?

"At least hold up the mirror so I can see!" Botan growled through the communicator.

"This isn't a stupid soap opera! Just open the damn portal!" Yusuke snapped.

"No…I didn't…it's not what it looks like!" Fay stuttered, waving a hand in denial. "I mean not the kiss…' the spreading blush was easy to see on her pale skin. "I mean…I just…" She was making a huge mess out of this, she just knew it!

Kurama smiled as understanding dawned and he strode over to her. "I see, you really do not know how to deal with,' he knelt and cupped her cheek. "Guys like me."

Fay's blush intensified and she gave a meek nod. "Yeah."

"Hey,' Yusuke whispered aside to Touya. "I know it's a bit late to ask, but why's Fay's skin so pale?"

"It will be explained, as soon as you answer my question."

Yusuke's eye twitched. "Right, I forgot about that."

A flash of light and the portal sprang to life near them.

"Sorry to break up this touching moment." Wind stirred around them as Kuronue flew past snatching Fay up before Kurama could react. "But the pests are getting bold." He disappeared with her through the portal.

"Kuronue!" Kurama stood and headed after them.

"What's he talking about?" Kuwabara looked behind him. "Hey guys, they're coming back!"

"We can easily take them." Shishi reached for his sword.

"That's not the problem, the portal's temporary. That's why Botan took it down when we came through," Yusuke explained. "So unless you're planning on staying and having it out with them, I say we leave now."

"I'll be seeing ye there then." Jin flew past Yusuke disappearing into the portal.

"Last one through has to fight Kuwabara." Rinku shouted as he headed for the portal.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kuwabara shouted.

"Isn't it obvious? Fighting you once was boredom enough." Shishi smirked as he passed the tall human.

"Come back here and say that to my face you Sisi!"

"In light of circumstances, I think you might want to chase him, mate." Chu called over his shoulder before he too disappeared through the portal. He was followed by Touya, Suzuka, Yusuke, and Hiei.

"Don't think you're just going to leave me behind!" Kuwabara jumped through after them.

Genkai turned to the two demon girls. "Decide quickly, stay here or come with us." She glanced at the lurking demons. "We happen to be running out of time."

"Ah…well," Juri looked from the demons to the portal.

"Of course we're going." Koto grabbed a hold of Juri's arm and dragged her along. "There's no way I'm missing all those upcoming fights, and if we stay here we'll have to deal with those looser demons! They might even make it hard on us."

'I hadn't thought of that.' But they had been hanging out with the enemy. "Then what are we waiting for!" Juri rushed past Koto reversing their roles so that Koto was suddenly being dragged behind. "Wait for us guys!" Juri called just before she passed through the portal with Koto behind her.

'Looks like we have more tag alongs.' Genkai stepped through the portal as it began to shrink; it closed behind her while she stared at the chaos.

All of them were talking at once, though thankfully not to the same person…at least not all of them. Even Hiei was in a three way argument with Kuwabara, Shishi, and Suzuka.

"I wasn't expecting this many additions to the group." Genkai looked up at Koenma as he stepped up next to her.

"The letter said she'd found friends, but I didn't think Fay could gather so many."

Genkai smiled. "Don't give her all the credit; those two dimwits, Kurama, and Hiei are also responsible for this."

"True." Koenma conceded. If Yusuke and the others hadn't fought against these individuals Fay might have really found herself in bad strays, and for that he was grateful.

"Have you noticed its two hours past the time limit Mary Anne gave us?"

Koenma looked at his watch. "You're right…and she's not here nor was she here two hours ago."

"Maybe that talk she had with Botan and Yusuke might be the reason." Genkai said.

"And we should count ourselves lucky." Koenma coughed, then coughed louder. When that didn't work he shouted. "Attention!" The group finally quieted down and turned to him.

He had two choices here; he could return this group to Demon world or he could let them stay. If he went with the first option he was pretty sure Yusuke and Kuwabara would never let him hear the end of it. It was possible Fay would join them. If he went with the second…it would mean more help against the factions…and less of a chance of losing Fay again. 'Maybe even speeding up the process of completing that crest and ending all this once and for all.' Too bad they couldn't have found the crest while in Demon world.

"You gonna say something pacifier breath, or are you just going to stand there trying to look cool?" Yusuke asked.

Koenma's eye twitched. "I'll have you know I was thinking, and I've come to a decision." He turned to regard the newcomers. "It seems that the Urameshi team could use your help in this matter. It's completely up to you, but if you're looking for new employment, I'm hiring."

Grinning in excitement, Jin was the first to speak. "Aye! Course we'll be helping out Yusuke!"

"We already said we'd take care of Fay from now on." Rinku added. "And just so everyone knows, next bad guy that shows up is mine!"

"Don't go getting ahead of yourself, Rinku." Chu pushed Rinku's cap over his eyes to the younger demon's annoyance. "I was just about to call that one."

'I'll take that as a yes,' Koenma thought.

"I'm in," Touya responded. Next to him Shishi and Suzuka nodded.

"My calling is now to stay by Fay's side. I will go nowhere else." Kuronue was still holding on to Fay. Not that she was complaining, sleep had finally dragged her away once more.

"What about them?" Botan pointed at Koto specifically. "She's probably here just to watch people get hurt."

"I'll have you know I've been a lot of help with Fay." Koto answered importantly. "I haven't lost her, I even helped protect her. Unlike you."

'But we did lose her,' Juri thought. 'And she only helped in that fight because…' Well she didn't really know why but Juri supposed it was best to keep quiet on those accounts.

"I did too help protect Fay!" Botan protested glaring daggers at the fox girl. "I'll have you know I've helped from the very start! And I also happen to be Fay's best friend!"

"Uhh…they're staying Botan." Koenma interrupted the argument.

"What?"

"I can't send them back to Demon world without protection and since the ones who could do that will be staying here. Here they'll stay too."

Botan gritted her teeth as she pouted. "Fine, but I don't have to like it."

Since she couldn't do anything about that, on to more important matters. Botan turned to Kuronue. "Fay, we have…" she trailed off. "What are you doing sleeping at a time like this!" she bristled. "Hold on…' finally noticing, Botan pointed. "What's up with her skin?"

"All I can really give you is a theory." The group turned to Touya.

"Aye, ye did say a bit bout that," Jin commented thinking back.

"Mind telling the rest of us what you're talking about?" Yusuke asked.

"Well you see when we met Fay…"

* * *

The vase shattered against the wall the pieces scattering onto a dark floor. "I grow tired of waiting brother! I want my birdie now!" Emma stomped a foot on the black marble floor.

Attor sat on a love seat, his two snakes curled around his neck like a necklace. The two siblings and the silent bodyguard inhabited a large sitting room fitted in red and gold. Most of the items; from the tables to the bases, rugs, and curtains were of Chinese origin. Yet in the darkness it held a menacing silhouette to it all.

For the past ten minutes Attor had listened to his sister complain, but when he tried to preach patience she became petulant. "We cannot bring you the birdie this very moment Emma. Her forest seems to have increased in danger." He ran a gentle nail over Kitara's back making the snake hiss in pleasure. "She has also been injured. We must be patient, just a little longer and we shall bring her to you."

Emma gave a silent snarl, the four silver wings on her back fluttering in agitation. "Patience is a condemned man's excuse, is that not what our dear father taught us?" she asked, her tone eerily sweet.

"It is, dear sister. And look, our father is dead and the throne has been usurped."

Emma quieted, the silver wings behind her slowly calming, the fangs that had showed in her anger disappeared behind her lips. "You are so right, dear brother." She gave a small shrug and skipped to the door, the silent woman once more following. "But I will not wait forever." She called back in a sing song voice.

"Emma has never been made to wait so long," Kimo hissed. "This may be a lesson for her, but we grow bored."

"Hmm…" Attor half listened to his companions, his head leaning against the back of his right palm. "Yes, it does get quite boring without prey in this house."

Not even steps heralded the new being's presence. He was simply there, hands in jacket pockets, looking down at Attor with a bored expression. "Must you summon me like a common servant?"

"If it is the only way you will respond. I have an assignment for you." Attor's smile was pleasant yet the chills that ran down the watcher's spine made him almost sorry for the prey. "And I just know you'll love it."

* * *

"Hold it, Yusuke! That's cheating!" Jin protested.

Yusuke grinned, "That's not cheating, that's me beating your butt for the third time."

"Outta the way, Jin. I have a bone to pick with Yusuke." Chu pushed Jin aside grabbing for the control Jin held in his hands.

"I be wanting a rematch! A fair one this time go round." Jin pulled away from Chu.

"Could you two just get out of my way, it's my turn anyway!" Rinku made a grab only to have Jin fly out of reach.

"Come back here Jin!" Rinku hurled his yoyos up, attempting to retrieve the control but Jin quickly moved out of the way.

"If you guys really want to see Urameshi beaten then you'll hand the control over to me!" Kuwabara shouted up at Jin. "I'm the only one here who has a chance."

"Ha! I've beaten you three times in a row already!" Yusuke gloated.

"Shut up, Urameshi! I was letting you win. This time I won't play nice."

"Bring it!"

"Will you boys please be quiet!" They turned to look at the entrance to what they had dubbed 'the gaming room,' Botan stood there, hands on hips. "You're making too much noise and Fay's still sleeping."

"Sheila's been sleeping for the past four days. I thought the only one who did that was this bloke here." Chu pointed at Yusuke.

"Hey I resent that! I didn't sleep for weeks on end like her!"

"There is reason enough for Fay to sleep so long." Yusuke jumped back when Kurama seemed to materialize at his side. "Sheesh, Kurama. Don't you make any noise?"

He smiled, "Genkai's calling a meeting in the living room. Your presence is requested." Kurama stepped past him heading out of the room.

'In other words; get your butts over there.' "Alright guys, guess its game over for now." Yusuke turned back to the game quickly typing his name in. "And Yusuke Urameshi remains the reigning champion!"

"For now!" Rinku, Chu, Kuwabara, and Jin chorused.

'Boys.' Botan shook her head and followed Kurama out. 'It figures they'd get into video games as soon as Yusuke introduced them to it.'

"Are you sure?" Botan walked into the living room as Touya asked Genkai his question.

"Sure about what?" she asked.

"Genkai says that Fay didn't pass any of her power to them when they fought that demon tree," Shizuru explained.

"If Fay had done that, I don't believe her power would have affected them like it did. For example,' Genkai looked over at Kuronue who appeared to like staying in the darker corners of any room he was in. "Kuronue was not affected like the rest of you because Fay used her power to heal him." She turned back to the group. "I believe Fay has the ability to unlock your potential."

"So you're saying that all that power I had,' the group turned to Rinku as he and the others joined them. "Was all mine?"

Genkai nodded, "Yes, but it will still take you years to gain it on your own. Years and training."

"Don't have to worry bout that, if that was me power then I'll be training till I reach it on me own!"

"Well said, Jin. I'm dead set on that myself. So, when do we get down to the bizz?" Chu asked.

"I'm going to train until I get that strong, too!" Rinku added over Chu's words. "Then I'll be able to beat Yusuke!"

"Nice to hear beating me is such a top priority," Yusuke drawled.

"So…if I trained, I could do that thing with the water on my own?" Juri asked.

"And I could run that fast?" Koto added, warming up to the idea.

"Yes, but it will not be easy getting there. And you certainly cannot count on Fay doing it once more," Genkai warned. "As with many others her power is connected to her emotions; the stronger they are the more chance there is that she will be able to use them. And although she is not as stubborn as a certain dimwit,' Genkai pointedly looked at Yusuke. "She also appears to be good at not dealing with her feelings…until she can't put them off any longer."

"Don't look at me like it's my fault!" Yusuke defended himself. "I didn't teach it to her. It's a skill people are born with."

The group sweat dropped. "The point is Yusuke, that that's a skill you both could do without. Though perhaps now,' this time Genkai sent Kurama a covert glance. "She will begin to learn to express her feelings better. As of now we know that she has the ability to heal, bring out a person's potential, and…" she looked at the glass window at her side. Her reflection stared back at her, but it wasn't that of an old woman, it was a young one of twenty-three. "Her power can rejuvenate a person's body. To anyone obsessed with immortality, she would be the long sought out fountain of youth."

"So far those we've fought haven't been after any miracle youth potion. I think we can safely say there's only one reason they're after Fay." Hiei said.

"They want the power to rule over everything." Shishi spoke into the silence.

"That's so lame, why don't bad guys come up with some new idea that isn't world domination," Kuwabara muttered.

"Cause they're lazy." Yusuke answered.

"The point is that if anyone managed to gain Fay's power, it would be conceivable," Touya said. "So it's up to us to stop them."

"In order to stop them you have to become stronger. Fay must learn to at least stand on her own until one of you manages to get to her, if that situation should ever arise." Genkai didn't doubt it would. "At least until we manage to find all the crest pieces and have Fay wish her powers away. Until then we must keep the enemy in the dark and at bay. And this is where we come to Chu's question. Once Fay wakes up we'll be moving to my temple, where it'll be easier to train."

"So you will be attempting to bring out Fay's power once more," Kurama stated.

Genkai turned to him. "Yes, she will be training too. She has the ability to use some of her power, in a roundabout way. I trust you will not try to interfere, Kurama."

"You're not going to make her sleep with snakes too, are you?" Yusuke asked. "Cause I'm telling you right now, there's no way Fay's going to make it through two minutes of that."

Genkai didn't answer her gaze still on Kurama. "As long as it does no great harm to her, I will not interfere." He finally answered.

"If that's all I think we should start packing." Botan turned back to Genkai. "How long will we be at your temple?"

"As long as it takes," She answered.

"Oh…well, I guess we better pack for a long trip then." Botan headed out of the room followed by the rest of the girls.

"Great, more packing." Yusuke complained. "I just finished unpacking not that long ago, now I have to do it all over again." He turned and headed for his room.

"Don't complain Urameshi. At least you didn't have to drag everyone else's stuff on your own," Kuwabara grumbled.

Slowly the rest of the group drifted away leaving only Kuronue and Kurama in the room. The sound of rain pattering outside, and the voices of the others drifted into the silent room.

"Have I ever easily given up when I wanted something?" Kuronue finally spoke into the silence.

"No, I don't believe you have." Kurama answered quietly. "And I do understand your meaning. However, remember that I have never lost what I did not care to lose."

Kuronue smirked. "Then we understand each other."

Kurama walked out of the room, headed for the upstairs. Kuronue stayed in place, his eyes glowing in the growing darkness.

* * *

'I can't believe I ended up sleeping for five days,' Fay brooded sullenly. She had tried her best to stay awake that day but it hadn't done her much good. 'At least my skin's back to normal.' She'd woken about fifteen minutes ago to find a change of clothes laid out and Yukina by her side. She'd told Fay what had been decided while she'd slept, then left to inform everyone else that Fay had finally woken up. 'I really hope I don't fall from any high places anymore or end up as a pin cushion.' A girl had to have her limits and her limit had been exceeded for her next three lifetimes. 'If I can even manage to get through this one.' Though that wasn't why Fay lingered in the bathroom brushing out hair that she had finished with about ten minutes ago.

At least here no one could see the blush that stained her cheeks. Fay didn't understand how relationships worked. Was she supposed to act any different towards Kurama or just be herself? Half of her just felt like doing something as stupid as screaming and running around in a panic.

'Why don't they teach this stuff at school so we'll actually be prepared?' But even if they had, Fay knew she'd drift off to sleep or skip that certain class entirely and go skating with her friends. 'Okay Fay. You can do this, I can't stay here forever.' Her feet didn't want to move though; actually they felt more like lead right now.

"Is Fay out yet?"

Fay straightened from her slouch when she heard his voice through the door.

"No, she's still in the bathroom,' Yukina answered. "But I'm sure she'll be out soon enough."

"I see, then I'll come back-"

The bathroom door suddenly flew open and Fay burst out, half tripping over her own feet. "I'm out, I'm out!"

Kurama crossed the room quickly, catching her before she could hit the floor.

"Good morning Fay."

"Umm…morning." She mumbled up at him.

Neither paid much attention to the sound of the door closing a few feet away.

"I have given your problem some thought."

Fay blinked up at him confusion in her eyes. "My…problem?" Which one, she had a ton of them. One of them right now being that she had the sudden urge to bolt the other way.

"Your need to run from me whenever I'm near."

Yup, that was it.

"It's not…like I want too,' realizing she was mumbling, Fay straightened and managed to keep her gaze from wondering away. "It uh…just happens."

"Then perhaps you should change it somewhat,' he wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her closer making her feel a bit faint and about to melt. "Change,' she coughed when the sound came out as a high pitched squeak and tried again. "Change it how?"

"Instead of running from me run to me, as you did in the clearing. I promise I will always be here to catch you."

She really didn't have anything to say to that that wouldn't turn into a girly squeak so she nodded meekly, glancing at the door when she heard a sound from behind it. Kurama however ignored it; now busy braiding a rose into her hair.

"There." Done, he stepped back smiling at his handy work. "No one will make the same mistake."

'What mistake?' She didn't get a chance to ask him. Kurama walked over to the door and opened it, stepping aside as first Botan then Juri and finally Koto fell through.

"Is my presence required somewhere else, ladies?" He inquired pleasantly.

Juri didn't know why but as innocent as that smile seemed, it was giving her the shivers.

"Uhh…" she looked over at Botan.

"Oh…no,' she laughed nervously. "We…uh…' panicked Botan quickly looked around. "Were just coming to check up on Fay and make sure she's all ready to go." Botan quickly picked herself up and stepped behind Fay, hands on her shoulders. "Yup, that's the whole reason we're here."

"Like Botan said, we're here to help." Koto hurried over to join the blue hair girl, Juri right behind her.

Fay shot them a glare over her shoulder. 'Even I can tell you're lying.'

"I am certain you've forgotten,' even if they had been the ones to pack her things. "So I will remind you that Fay's clothes are already packed, and we will not be staying at Genkai's forever but only a certain amount of time. I'm sure what has been packed will suffice for her stay."

"Uhh…right…well…" An idea finally came to Botan. "Fay just woke up, she must be starving. We'll just take her along to get some breakfast."

"That's exactly why we came,' Koto grabbed a hold of Fay's upper arm while Botan grabbed her right. "So we'll just take her to the kitchen. Let's go girls."

They sped out of the room quickly, Juri following close on their heels.

'It's simple enough to read their true intent.' Kurama thought leaning against the door. Perhaps he should be worried... 'Then again, those three mean no harm.' His worries leaned more to what the factions would try now, as well as Kuronue's next move.

* * *

Both girls set Fay down on a counter stool. Botan had planned on prying the story, the whole story, out of Fay but she found her plan delayed when Yusuke entered the kitchen. "If it isn't sleeping beauty finally up from her hundred year old nap, and look she's even got a rose in her hair."

"Nice to see you still have your good old sense of humor." Fay said dryly, looking for a reflective surface so she could see the rose. Had anyone tried this in the past with her, she would have cringed and gotten rid of the flower right away, but since it was Kurama who had placed it there she didn't mind. She'd probably growl at anyone who even thought of touching it.

"Well I do try," Yusuke smirked. "You do know we'll be leaving in about,' he looked over at the clock hanging from the wall. "Fifteen minutes?"

"And she'll be ready by then. We just need to make sure Fay eats so she won't faint on us again." Botan walked over to the fridge and peered inside.

"Any more of that leftover lasagna?" Yusuke asked peering over her shoulder.

"You just ate half an hour ago!"

"I'm still growing, I need the food."

'This is why I was dragged downstairs?' Fay thought tapping her nails against the counter. She could be with Kurama right now.

"I thought I heard your voice." Shizuru stepped into the kitchen and gave Fay a one arm hug. "I told you we'd get you back, and here." She removed the bracelet from around her wrist and handed it back to Fay. "Thanks, it really did save my life."

"I told you it would." Fay took the bracelet and slid it back about her wrist. "I'm leaving her in your hands Yusuke; try not to mess up this time."

"I wasn't the only one there you know! Go blame Kuwabara for it."

"You're not coming with us to Genkai's?" Fay asked.

Shizuru shook her head, "No, I'm heading back to my place to take care of a few things. Keiko had to leave earlier for school so she can't go either, but we'll catch up with you guys during winter vacation."

"Oh, okay. Say hello to her for me then."

"I'll pass it along. See you later." Shizuru waved over her shoulder, passing Jin as she left.

"Ye're awake!"

Fay smiled at the red head, "Jin! Great to see you! Sorry I left you guys stuck with Yusuke."

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Yusuke turned from his inspection of the fridge to glare at Fay who'd jumped of the stool and ran to give the Wind Master a hug. Jin cheerfully returned it, giving Yusuke a grin over her shoulder.

'I wouldn't look so smug if I were you.' Yusuke thought sweat dropping. He knew from experience that Kurama's politeness only ran so deep…or was only so shallow.

"If you're handing out hugs I'd like one." Fay was quickly pulled out of Jin's arms and into Kuronue's.

"Morning Kuronue. Thanks for the lift last time but I don't need one right now." It's not that Fay didn't like Kuronue, but he gave her the feeling of being a mouse...in the big cat's claws or in this case a large bat's claws. 'I'd much prefer a fox.' Youko's face flashed through her mind, speeding up her heartbeat just as it did to Kurama. She inwardly shook her head dislodging the image of golden eyes.

"Hold it boyo; she was hugging me first so hand Fay over," Jin demanded.

"And if I say no?" Kuronue challenged looking down at Jin.

'So this is how my little brother and sister's toys feel like.' All Fay needed was a tug of war and her experience was complete.

"A bit early to be having a blue both of yahs. Put Fay down." Chu picked the girl out of Kuronue's arms, much like a cat, and set her down on the floor.

"Thanks, Chu." Fay quickly moved back to her seat where Botan was placing a food filled plate. "Please tell me Yusuke didn't make this."

"I'll have you know I'm not that bad of a cook!" Yusuke turned back to her with a glare, and she returned it with a disbelieving look.

"You don't have to worry about that,' Botan assured her. "Keiko and I took care of the cooking while you were taking some down time," She turned to the others. "Okay, all you boys out of the kitchen. We'll be out once Fay's done eating."

"Aye, we'll be waiting then." Jin waited until Kuronue left then headed out himself, followed by Chu.

"Oh, Chu." He looked back at Fay. "Yeah?"

Fay pointed at the bottle in his hand. "Do you really think it's a good idea to get drunk so early in the morning? I mean it's not even ten o'clock yet."

He looked startled then burst into laughter. "It's bonzer ye're worrying 'bout me Fay, but no need. This alkie's as weak as orange juice." He waved off offhandedly and left.

'Is…he serious?' Come to think of it the first time she'd met him she did recall him having a large bottle of…some kind of alcoholic drink with him. 'Maybe he's got that whole 'it's five o'clock somewhere' attitude.' In which case it was a good thing that there wasn't an actual Margaritaville in existence, she wouldn't want to be around if Chu was unleashed on it.

"Alcohol doesn't affect Chu the same way it does most people," Yusuke explained. "It actually makes him stronger…or something like that. Anyway finish eating, we'll be leaving soon." He left taking an apple with him.

"They're finally gone. Go on and eat quickly, then you can tell us everything." Juri said.

"Uhh…okay." So Fay ate slowly, wondering where Hiei had gone off too, she hadn't seen him yet.

_Next Chapter Preview_

_"I don't explain myself to fools..."_

_"Fay would be the only lure." _

_"Rinku! Have yah gone batty?"_

_"Come home with me and I'll stop."_


	36. Chapter 36: Broken Friendship

CHAPTER 35: Broken Friendship

The menacing feeling didn't hit Shizuru until she touched the front door of her home. She snatched her hand back, quickly stepping away. 'Something really bad is in there.' She looked up at the dark windows of her home. This was the first time she'd ever been afraid of her own house, but…Shizuru turned away. She would go get the others.

"Help someone!"

Shizuru jerked to a stop, her head lifting to look up at one of the windows of her home. The curtain fluttered, moved, and was wrenched away.

"Keiko!" Shizuru turned back; running to the door she quickly yanked it open, ignoring the warning bells in her head. She couldn't just leave Keiko to whatever had her cornered in her house. "Keiko I'm coming!" she took the stairs two at a time, quickening her pace when she heard something being knocked down and running footsteps.

Shizuru was on the corridor when the door to her room was flung open and Keiko ran out, Puu nowhere in sight. "We have to go!" the younger girl grabbed Shizuru's arm and pulled her along. "He…I don't know what he is but he's evil. Even I can feel that."

"Who's he?" Shizuru asked following Keiko down the stairs.

Keiko shook her head. "I don't know. I met him on my way to school, he said he was new to the neighborhood and wanted directions but…but then he changed. I ran away but it's like a game to him, I think he wanted me to come here. I never had a chance to get to Yusuke."

"We'll have one now," Shizuru said determinedly. They were almost to the door when it snapped shut, light green mist falling off the handle. They turned as slow steps sounded behind them.

Shizuru pulled Keiko behind her, catching Puu as he was thrown at her and trying to ignore the shivers this stranger was sending down her spine. It wasn't so much his appearance as the long ivory horns that protruded from his head and fell to his knees, and those eyes…those poison green eyes swirling with madness.

Gathering her courage, Shizuru spoke. "Who are you and what do you want with us?"

The stranger tilted his head to the side, reminding Shizuru of a reptile. "You're just the bait. What I'm after is far, far more valuable."

"What is this?" Keiko coughed as the green mist rose up from the floor. "Cover your mouth Keiko!" Shizuru coughed. 'This smell…it…' she wavered on her feet, her eyes beginning to water even as they fought her to close. "What…what are you?"

If he gave an answer, Shizuru wasn't awake to hear it. She hit the floor seconds after Keiko did.

* * *

Soon after Fay finished eating, they began to rush to get to the station though they, at the last minute, realized they had to deal with hiding some of their friend's features. Juri opted for a skirt and hoodie to hide her ears and tail while Koto put on jeans and a coat to hide her tail; her ears she hid under a dark grey cloche hat.

The boys were a little harder to tackle from Botan's point of view, but soon enough they too looked more or less like normal people, with Jin (after some explaining) wearing a dark grey hoodie to hide his ears and horn, and Kuronue wearing a long black trench coat with a hood. It did not make him look inconspicuous, but for some reason this seemed to amuse him.

It was as they entered the station that a cold shiver ran down Kuwabara's back. He stopped, turning to scan their surroundings. 'I…think it has to do with...' he took a step forward, the hair on his arms standing up.

"Kuwabara hurry up! You're gonna make us miss the train!" Yusuke shouted back at him.

"I'm coming, Urameshi just give me a second!" Kuwabara looked around trying to root out whatever was giving him the bad feeling but when he couldn't make it out, he finally headed back to the others, still feeling uneasy. He caught up with the group just as Kurama headed over to the help desk.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We might have missed the train," Botan answered. She really hoped not though.

Kurama soon came back with the usual news, at least to those who had tried transportation before. "The train departed not five minutes ago."

"Great, now we'll have to wait another thirty minutes," Yusuke complained.

"We didn't wait the first thirty minutes thanks to you dimwits taking so long in putting on clothes," Genkai said. "Waiting these thirty minutes won't kill us. Everyone stay together. I'll go get the tickets."

The group found seats and resigned themselves to waiting. "Look at all the humans." Juri said looking one way and another as people passed by. "I haven't seen this many since the Dark Tournament, and all of them were dressed a little more differently."

"Those were the rich humans; I doubt there are many of those here," Shishi said.

"Aye, but look at them all. Are they here for the trolley too?" Jin asked.

"Pretty much,' Fay responded frowning as she looked over the group. "Where's Hiei? I haven't seen him since I woke up."

"Shorty's probably just scared of big crowds and went ahead on his own," Kuwabara muttered, half his attention still on something else.

"I saw him this morning after breakfast,' Yukina said. "But he did disappear soon after."

"He'll show up when he has too,' Yusuke said. "And I doubt he went ahead on his own. That might mean missing out on the faction's next attempt to kidnap Fay."

"Why so worried about him?" Kuronue asked sounding annoyed. "He's no low level demon; he can take care of himself." It was easy to remember the last time he'd talked to the short demon because it had been the only time.

It had been two nights ago; Kuronue had been heading to check on Fay when he'd passed Hiei on the hallway. Neither had even looked at each other, simply continued past, only after a few feet had they stopped.

"You may already know but in case you were trying to convince yourself otherwise; you're a fool." Hiei had informed him.

Kuronue hadn't turned to look at him. "Care to explain why?"

"I don't explain myself to fools, especially those who willfully play the part."

"Oh?' Kuronue half turned. "And are you pretending you're not a fool?"

Hiei had finally deigned to look back at him, a smirk curling his lips. "I have never played a fool for anyone, and I won't start anytime soon." He turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Hiei had been boasting, of that Kuronue was sure; he just didn't know exactly what the other demon had been boasting about.

"He's my friend; of course I'm going to worry about him," Fay was saying. "Besides I'm still the only one who hasn't seen his Jagan eye, and that's just not playing fair."

"Take solace,' Fay turned to Kurama who sat on her left. "Kuronue has never seen Hiei's Jagan eye either." For a few seconds Fay had to search her mind to remember what they'd been talking about, when she finally did she tapped a fist to her palm and turned to Kuronue. "That's right, we could team up and-"

"Look, Genkai has returned." Kurama stood pulling Fay up with him.

Genkai handed the tickets to the group, giving the last to Hiei as he walked up to join them.

"Don't look around,' Genkai warned. "We're being followed."

Fay barely managed to stop herself from doing exactly that, though she hadn't been the only one. Chu had to place a hand over Juri's head to stop her from doing so while Koto half did it and froze, slowly turning back to the group.

"Aye, noticed it 'bout ten minutes ago,' Jin said. "But no move has been made."

"Same here, but like Jin said, whoever's following us isn't making a move." Yusuke's tone turned worried. "And I haven't been able to tell who it is." He looked from one to another. "Any of you have?" One by one they shook their heads.

"Whoever it is, they're giving off a creepy vibe." Kuwabara rubbed his arms. "It's like being stalked by a vicious animal and knowing it, and you get the feeling that when it strikes, it'll be bad."

"Then I say we hunt down this pursuer or try to make him reveal himself." Hiei reached for the hilt of the katana hidden in his black coat.

'Why doesn't anyone tell me when this happens?' Fay wondered in irritation.

"Calm yourself Hiei,' Kurama cautioned. "Without truly knowing who this is, we can do very little. We don't have enough information."

"So you expect us to stand around waiting for the enemy to strike?" Suzuka scoffed. "I'd rather lure them out."

"That may be a good idea, mate, 'cept we have a problem there too," Chu pointed at Fay. "Fay would be the only lure."

"I can do-" Firm no's from the group silenced her. 'They could let me help a little.' Fay silently pouted, conveniently forgetting that most of her attempts to help often ended with her being almost killed.

"Then there's no other choice," Kuronue stated. "We'll just have to be ready for the moment the enemy decides to strike."

It was easy enough to tell that no one liked the idea but with no other alternative open to them, they tried to act as normal as possible while still keeping an eye on anyone who came too close to the group. Kuwabara couldn't seem to keep the occasional shiver from showing and he'd quickly turn one way, muttering about whoever it was being too fast.

The boys and Genkai had quickly formed a loose circle around the five none fighters; Koto, Juri, Yukina, Botan and Fay. Koto looked almost eager, Juri looked less so, Fay had to remind the water demon to keep her tail from showing.

Yukina tried to act her usual serene self but Fay could see she too was worried, as was Botan; she kept a tight grip on Fay's arm, unable to help herself from looking around.

As for her, Fay found herself thinking of a friend of hers back home. Like Isis, she'd known him since they'd entered school as children but unlike the Magus, they were friends. He'd been the one to introduce her to skating. 'I wonder…why am I thinking about Dante now?' She'd known him forever, there was no way he had some kind of power he hadn't told her about…could he? 'Then again, it's not like I ran to tell him the moment I found out about this power stuff.'

"What does he look like?" Fay jerked to face Hiei. "What?"

"The boy you keep thinking about? What does he look like?"

'Hiei you idiot!' Fay silently fumed. She didn't want Kurama to get the wrong idea.

"What boy?" Fay quickly turned to Kurama. "He's a friend from back home,' she explained hurriedly. "Almost like a brother. I've known him for a long time. I was just wondering how he-"

"What does he look like?" Hiei insisted impatiently.

'I wish he couldn't read minds.' At least Kurama didn't look mad, though he didn't look happy either. "Well…Dante has spiky brown hair; usually he'll be wearing a black jacket with three red stripes, two across the upper arms, and a larger one across the stomach. He wears dark blue jeans, a little baggy on his body, skater shoes and for some reason he likes to wear those large types of earphones around his neck."

Hiei reached for his katana. "Got him."

"What?" Had Botan not been keeping a hold of her, Fay would have tried to get past Yusuke, but Botan tugged her back shaking her head. "Stay with us, if this friend of yours is here then he's also part of the factions."

"But he's…my friend." Fay had finally seen him. Dante had been leaning against one of the white pillars. Now he straightened and headed for them.

"He doesn't look like much of a challenge,' Rinku smirked. "I can take him."

"Remember what we told you,' Genkai warned him. "They're more than they appear. Underestimate them and you're as good as dead."

"Besides, the waves coming of this guy are bad. Real bad." Kuwabara wasted no time in materializing his spirit sword. He didn't want to be taken by surprise by whatever this guy did.

Dante stopped a few feet from the group, his dark brown gaze traveling over the group with a bored expression until they landed on Fay. He finally smiled, tilting his head to look past Yusuke's shoulder.

"I don't suppose if I tell you that I'm here to take you back home, you'll come?"

Fay stepped forward but Botan still held her and Yukina had grabbed her other arm.

"Please remember he's part of the factions, and he…doesn't look right." Yukina told her gently.

"Ey, bloke. Are yah forgetting that we're here?" Chu stepped forward, blocking Dante's view of Fay. "Yah have to deal with us first."

Brown eyes flashes a poison green, Dante's right arm whipped upward and to the side; a green stream of mist materialized around his arm as he did this, striking Chu on the chest and hurling him away.

"Chu!" Fay ran to him once Botan and Yukina's hold had fallen away, while everyone else burst into motion.

Hiei was the first to reach Dante, but he proved to be faster than he looked. He dodged Hiei's blade, only the tips of his spiked hair separating from him, and slammed a hand forward. The green mist followed like a missile but missed Hiei.

It whipped to the left with Dante's motion, blocking Shishi's downward strike and wrapping around him like a snake before throwing him against the far wall.

Dante brought his left hand from where it rested within his pocket and made a slapping motion in Suzuka's direction. A green wall of mist slammed him from the side, stopping his own attack. It swirled upward then, becoming a tornado that imprisoned Jin just as he released his own tornado fist. The result was that it hit the green wall of his prison and bounced back at him, knocking him about.

"Jin!" Touya turned angry eyes on Dante, bringing his palm up. "Shards of Winter!"

Dante was preoccupied enough with Rinku that the attack hit, slashing his cheek and hitting his body before the mist rose up to stop the rest. It then twisted in Touya's direction, taking on a greenish form of his own attack. Touya twisted and turned to avoid it but unlike his own, this was a homing attack and moved after him.

"Hey I'm right here too!" Rinku hurled his yoyos, they were met with green misty copies of them, except these exploded on contact. Rinku staggered back bringing a sleeve up over his nose and coughing at the smell.

"Stay back, Rinku." Chu reappeared before Rinku. "I'll help take care of this drongo." He'd quickly turned in mid air and landed on his feet when Dante had thrown him, patting Fay's shoulder and telling her to stay with the girls before he'd rejoined the fray. 'Bit embarrassing that the bloke's managing to keep up with all of us.' But he was about to take care of that...or he would have had, if Kuwabara hadn't rushed in.

"Kuwabara, get out of the way!" Yusuke shouted at his friend as he pointed.

"I'm trying Urameshi! But this stuff's not easy to break!" He'd charged forward only to find himself chained by Dante's green mist. It kept him near enough to Dante that any large attack would hit him, but far enough that he couldn't even kick the guy. 'Damn it! I'm gonna make this guy pay as soon as I get out of here!' he struggled to break the mist's grip but it only tightened, much like a snake.

Kuronue let his scythe fly, unsurprised when the mist rose up to stop him. He flew over it, redirecting the chain's path. It was surprise enough that it injured Dante's right shoulder, he winced but quickly retaliated by sending a stream of mist after Kuronue.

He then quickly had to turn and block Kurama's rosewhip.

"A bit o' help here!" Jin called slamming fists against his prison. He was still trapped within the swirling mist and looking a little blue around the edges.

"Someone break Jin out of that thing!" Yusuke shouted.

"It's easier said than done. I've been trying that for the last five minutes!" Shishi wiped sweat from his brow before attacking the mist again.

"And this stuff has the worst smell." Suzuka staggered to his feet, trying to wipe the clinging mist and smell from him. "How can anyone feel beautiful with this stench?"

'Smell…?' Kurama disengaged, letting Hiei take over as he scented the air.

"I doubt it's there simply because he likes the smell." Kurama looked down at Genkai. Unlike everyone else she hadn't attacked but stayed back to observe. "Agreed, but I am uncertain what-"

"Rinku! Have yah gone batty?" Chu's outburst attracted their attention to the boy who had hurled his yoyos not at Dante, but at Chu, wrapping them around his body.

The demon boy had a dark grin on his face, and his slate green eyes now had the green cast of the mist. "Don't worry about this one, Master. I'll take care of him." Rinku's yoyos tightened their hold on Chu who looked at Rinku in disbelief and worry.

"Oh hell. This is not good." Yusuke ran to help with Rinku.

'The smell, a large dose of it and…it must be what controls them.' Kurama quickly turned to Shishi. "Get away from there!" His warning came just as the mist dissipated and Jin attacked Shishi, the same green glow in his eyes.

Genkai left Kurama's side, placing herself between Suzuka and the girls as he charged them. "Get a hold of yourself before I have to smack you into the floor, again!"

Suzuka didn't listen but unleashed him own attack, the green mist twined with it.

"I can't believe they're being overwhelmed by one guy." Koto said following the fight between Dante, Hiei, and Kuronue.

"It's because he's cheating! If he hadn't taken Kuwabara hostage then they could use their stronger attacks!" Botan growled. "Come on guys, you can take him down! Suzuka, Rinku, Jin get a hold of yourselves!"

"What if that mist turns Kuwabara against us?" Yukina worried her eyes on the tall youth. "He looks like he's in pain too."

"Umm…I'm just going to hide behind you." Juri let them know as she ducked behind them.

'Why did he have to be part of the factions?' Fay couldn't reconcile this Dante to the one she'd known most of her life. The Dante she knew wouldn't do this. 'There has to be something wrong with him.' "Dante please, stop it!" she shouted. "You don't have to do this!"

Dante managed to evade both Kuronue and Hiei, snapping both arms outward and slamming mist into them that tossed them back.

"We'll make this simple then,' he stretched out a hand to her. "Come home with me and I'll stop. I'll even let them go." He motioned to those under his control.

"She will do no such thing." Kurama placed himself between them, his gaze hard. "We know what you seek from her, and I refuse to let you harm her for your own selfish needs."

Dante brought an arm upward, a larger misty copy of his own forming above it and snatching Hiei in its grasp. "You might want to think about this,' he warned the group. "I can order your friends to kill themselves, and I can crush this little mouse with my fist."

"Do you think I'll let you get away with calling me that!" Hiei growled angrily as he struggled to break free.

"Shut up!" Dante's grip tightened. Hiei ground his teeth to keep from crying out.

Dante's gaze never wavered from Kurama who stared steadily back. He suddenly snarled and hurled Hiei at Kurama. "It's you!"

Kurama caught Hiei, sliding backward.

"I won't let you live now!" Dante slammed a foot onto the ground, cracks began to appear, green mist seeping upward before the ground exploded and two misty stalks rose into the air. The rest of the mist spread out, covering the ground in a thick layer.

"Cover your nose!" Yusuke shouted.

"That won't do us much good." Genkai said, standing by the downed figure of Suzuka. "We can't avoid the smell, but if we attack him,' she looked up at the stalks. They kept going up and ending in large closed blossoms, and inside them she could make out the unconscious forms of Shizuru, Puu and Keiko. "I don't doubt he'll retaliate."

At Kurama's feet the mist had began to thicken and take on a long serpentine form. "I'm going to enjoy killing you." Dante hissed. He snapped his fingers. "Servants, kill the others."

"Like hell they will!" Before Dante could react, a fist slammed into him sending him flying across the station. Yusuke followed him, slamming another fist into his stomach the moment he hit the wall. "I'm done playing with you dumb ass! Your first and last mistake was kidnapping Keiko and Shizuru when they have nothing to do with this!" He struck a third time. Dante doubled over, coughing up inky black blood.

'Not to self, never make Yusuke cranky,' Chu thought. He'd already taken care of Rinku, keeping the boy immobile within his large arm, at least the best he could. The boy still struggled to get free but without being able to move his hands, he was pretty much incapacitated.

"Well, are you going to let them go or do I have to pound your head in next!" Yusuke demanded grabbing Dante by the collar and hoisting him up to face level. "I'm waiting for an answer!"

"Don't bother, Yusuke. I say we take his head and be done with it." Hiei picked up his katana. He'd noticed that the mist never came close to it; he would take that as a sign.

"No, Yusuke, Hiei please don't!" Fay cried rushing forward. "He's my-"

"Look at what he's done!" Yusuke pointed at Shizuru and Keiko. "He's trying to take you back to whoever's pulling his strings! You can't keep believing he's your friend!"

Fay came to a stop looking torn.

"I suggest you stop thinking with that bleeding heart of yours, Fay. It's already gotten you in enough trouble." Hiei glanced at Kurama. "And you're not the only one."

Fay turned to Kurama who appeared unable to move from where he stood. "What have you done to me?" he demanded of Dante. Kuronue ran to Kurama, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him out, it seemed almost impossible.

Dante gave a weak laugh. "I said I wouldn't let you live. Once the mist rises to your knees, you'll die."

"I'll kill you before that happens!" Yusuke hit him again.

Hiei turned back to Fay. "Decide Fay, who are you…" He trailed off. Fay was doubled over, hands gripping her head, her long hair hiding her expression.

"Fay what's wrong?" Botan ran to the girl but stopped midway when Fay suddenly screamed.

She'd never had a migraine before, Fay thought that was the only thing this could be, but she experienced it the moment Dante spoke of Kurama's death. A pounding at the back of her head began; it quickly worked its way forward threatening to split her skull. There were words, sounds, images, memories that poured forward, flashing behind her eyes.

'What am I supposed to do, let them hurt my friend?'

Hiei's words echoed through to her. 'But then…haven't I already done that?' Something inside of her snapped in response to her words, and she screamed.

Fay didn't know how long she'd been trapped within the darkness, but when it began to dissipate her eyes cleared, sound rushed in, and thought returned. Fay realized she was in someone's arms, and a voice kept calling her name.

"She be coming 'round."

"Fay you finally awake?"

She looked up to meet Kurama's worried gaze. "Don't tell me, I fainted again," She said dryly.

He smiled in relief. "You had a very good reason."

Fay would have been content to stay right where she was, but memory had returned. "Wait, you're okay? You aren't hurt?"

"You could ask about us too you know." Fay looked up at Rinku, frowning until she realized she'd been kneeling on the ground. "All of you look fine so…what happened to Dante?"

Kurama helped her to her feet. "We did little but watch, you took care of him."

Disbelief clouded her eyes. "How, when I fainted?"

"I told them you were a lot like Yusuke. Whatever happened inside your head released your feelings." Genkai explained. "And that released your power."

"Don't you remember?" Botan asked. "You started screaming,' she hesitated. "Actually it was more like…singing, but you kept one long note. It drove away the mist, right into Dante. He disappeared and the battle field broke…like glass. I've never seen it do that before."

"That's right, I saw it too." Arms around Puu, Keiko smiled in thanks. "It woke us up and freed us."

"It also broke that spell on us, can't say I was too pleased 'bout that one meself." Jin added with a displeased frown. Next time he was pounding that boy into the ground.

"I'm sorry…I must've heard wrong," Fay rubbed her ears. "I thought I just heard Botan say I sang."

"Yes, and very prettily, even if it was one note." Kuronue said taking a step closer to her.

Fay looked unconvinced. "No really, what happened? There's a reason my family holds 'secret' karaoke nights when I'm not around. The last time I sang, the neighbors called animal control."

The group sweat dropped.

"Okay, moving right along. The point is you did, and Dante turned into that mist and disappeared into the wall." Yusuke hesitated, looking unsure. "And…uh, I think he was trying to get control of me. He opened his mind and when you sang lost his concentration." Looking as if he'd rather not be the one handing out this news, he continued. "I saw some of his memories…I…I don't think he saw you as a friend…exactly." He fell silent until Genkai prompted him to continue. "He…kept thinking of eating you, of the power he could sense inside you. Whatever he was…he wasn't your friend."

Fay looked down, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat. "He was a little strange, not that I cared, not since he shared his chocolate pudding with me in kindergarten. He was always nice and smiling. He never let anyone hurt me." Fay closed her eyes, finally noticing the tears staining her cheeks but didn't bother wiping them away. 'Were any of my friends actually just that?' Two faces came to her mind, almost making her smile. 'I always have Nina and Madeline.' Even with that, Fay felt as if one of her best friends had died.

Kurama wrapped her in a warm embrace and she leaned her head against his chest. "Whatever happens I will always be here, and so will everyone else."

"That's right, but we know you need to feel sad right now. Just let us know when you want to smile." Shizuru pointed over her shoulder at her brother. "I'll dress up Kuwabara in a clown suit. That should be fun to see."

"Hey!" Kuwabara protested sounding indignant.

"Ha! Kuwabara doesn't need a suit for that, he already acts the part," Hiei mocked.

"Why don't you come a little closer and try saying that again! See if I don't knock you down a few more inches hamster legs!"

Despite herself Fay chuckled. "Thanks. I think I'll be fine."

The announcement for their train sounded over the speakers. "Keiko, Shizuru, quickly get your tickets. It looks like you two will be coming along after all." Genkai told them.

The two nodded and raced off. "I'll go with them." Yusuke said following after the two girls.

The rest of the group made their way to the platform. Fay wiped the tears away and looked up at Kuronue. "I forgot to ask, did you get to see Youko?"

On her other side Kurama tensed but remained silent.

"Well…yes, they helped me find him." Kuronue replied after some hesitation.

"Are you sure we shouldn't just tell Fay the truth?" Juri whispered to Koto.

"Not our call sheila." Chu answered back; close enough to hear.

"I'm sure Kurama has his reasons for wanting to keep it secret," Touya said.

"A bit strange if ye ask me. I think he should just tell it," Jin whispered. "Don't think it would make much difference to her."

"I just think its weird listening to her talk about him like he's two different people," Rinku said.

"Shh!" Botan hushed them. "We don't want her to know."

"Know what?"

Botan jumped when Fay looked over her shoulder at her. "Uhh…that…umm." She looked around for help but when no one ventured anything she came up with the first thing that came to mind. "Well if I were to tell you it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" she forced out a cheerful laugh. Fay gave her a suspicious look before turning back to Kuronue.

"Why didn't you go with him?" She asked him.

"Because…' Kuronue glanced at Kurama. "I decided to stay."

"Is he coming back?" Fay couldn't help the hopeful note in her voice. She'd never had a chance to thank Youko and he'd helped save her life twice now. 'I hope he's okay…wherever he is.' Fay considered him a friend too, and she didn't want to lose anymore friends.

"He…might show up, at some point." Kuronue finally answered after some hesitation.

"Great, I hope I get to see him," Fay said cheerfully.

"I see the train, let's go." Kurama took her hand and pulled her after him, leaving the others to follow.

* * *

"I take it you returned because you have the information we wanted?" Attor demanded.

Dante swiped a hand over his cut cheek. "I wouldn't be this messed up if I hadn't." He licked the blood off his fingers. "She has more guardians, and the red head with green eyes,' his own eyes narrowed in anger and he bit down hard on his finger drawing more inky blood. "He's the one. He has to die!" He gave the rest of his report, lapsing into silence when he was done.

"How many none fighters?" Attor asked, like him the snakes resting on his shoulders watched the inky black blood dripping down. The only reason they didn't attack was because they knew this blood was poisonous to them, they would have to wait for dinner to be brought to them.

"Six." Dante answered finally letting go of his finger. "Seven including Fay, but we knew of her already."

Attor gave an icy smile and stood. "Well done, Dante. Your horns may have come in late, but they appear to be making you almost as blood thirsty as your departed father." Attor raised a hand to Dante's head. The younger demon held back a yelp as bone protruded from his head on both sides, quickly growing into horns that reached to his knees. "He would be proud, and so should you. Like the rest of us, you are finally discovering that the world is insane, and we are the only sanity that will cure our people's delusions."

'Like I care.' Dante silently snarled. He was thirsty again, no he was hungry and he wanted to hear the sound of tearing flesh.

Attor closed the door behind him, walking down the dark corridor until another blocked his path.

"Ready as always, Nikias."

The shorter demon nodded. "I take it it's my turn to execute the second part of the plan."

"They will be expecting it, always expecting an attack," Attor warned. "So use subtlety. I know you're the best at that, Nikias. Do it silently, and do it quickly. I expect the birds here soon."

Nikias stepped to the side and bowed. "As you wish it, Attor."

Once Attor was out of sight, Nikias turned to the silent shadow halfway down the hall. "Jealous Kyro?"

Kyro shook his head. "No, just wondering if you'll manage to pull it off. You did let her get away last time you met, and she hadn't even awoken yet."

"Watch me." Nikias turned and walked down the dark corridor. "This time the net will be small enough for the fish."

'Don't you mean birdie?' Kyro silently mocked. He turned to look at the door. 'I better go make sure Dante doesn't start again.'

* * *

"How many more stairs?" Fay whined. "And why so many stairs in the first place?"

"Stop complaining,' Genkai said as she passed Fay. "You'll get used to it."

'Not likely.' Still…this place gave her ideas. It'd be a great place to test her skill at skating. 'And make sure I'm not getting rusty.' She hadn't skated in over a month now.

"Could someone give me a hand please?" Juri staggered onto the next landing and fell to her knees. "Why do we have to climb so many stairs?"

"Oh, come on you two, we're almost there," Botan pointed up. "See, you can see the temple from here."

"Easy for you to say, I'm a referee not some over buff trainer." Botan turned to glare at Koto as she passed her. 'Why I oughta…' One day she really was gonna get that mouthy girl!

"I can always carry you, Fay," Kuronue offered.

'He's at it again!' Botan silently seethed. She'd noticed this before, but if it kept going he could really mess with all her work. 'Then what am I supposed to do?' Although Fay didn't appear interested, actually Botan didn't think Fay even got it. As she showed at the moment.

Fay straightened from her slouch and shook her head. "Thanks, but no. I've had enough of being carried to last me a lifetime."

"It's not that far now, one more set of stairs." Kurama took Fay's hand and she nodded following, never seeing the warning look Kurama shot Kuronue over her head.

'Bingo!' Botan thought cheerfully. It looked like she might not have anything to worry about after all.

"I wanna be carried," Juri pouted. Why didn't anyone ask her that?

"I can carry yah sheila." Chu offered kneeling by Juri.

"No thanks." Juri quickly stood and headed up the rest of the stairs.

They finally walked through the doors to the inner courtyard of the temple where Jin and Shishi, who had flown, waited.

"Bout time, kept us waiting long enough, ye did." Jin waved as they entered.

"Not all of us can fly, Jin." Yusuke grumbled. "Okay, so what do we do now grandma? Set up for a picnic?"

"Ha! In your dreams dimwit. Now all of you have twenty minutes to leave your things in whatever room you choose, I'm sure you can lead them there, Yusuke." She turned and headed to the back of the temple. "After that we start training, oh and Fay?"

The girl, who had been contemplating skating around the courtyard, turned to Genkai. "Yes?"

"Put on clothes that will allow you freer movement. Dresses and skirts may be nice, but they won't work out this time."

"Sure, I'd love too,' Fay said dryly. "Know any stores nearby where I can get some jeans? Cause at the moment I don't own a pair."

"Don't worry; I can take care of that." Botan interjected before Genkai could dig into Fay. "We'll be there in twenty minutes."

Genkai nodded and left.

"Guess we better do this quickly." Yusuke led the way inside.

"What do you mean you'll take care of it?" Fay asked Botan. "I don't own a pair of pants cause you threw out my last pair."

"Oh…did I say that?" Botan asked innocently. Fay glared.

"Don't look so mad, I just remembered; I found another pair of jeans and a shirt underneath all your other clothes. I just forgot to mention it." Botan said.

Fay continued to glare. No one forgot something they hid on purpose.

Once inside the room, Botan reluctantly handed over the pants and t-shirt to Fay who took them back gladly.

"Hold on, did you do something to my pants?" They…looked shorter, definitely a better fit than before.

"They were a little baggy on you, so I just made a few changes," Botan replied cheerfully.

"You didn't do anything to my shirt, right?" Fay picked up the midnight blue shirt. The picture was still the same, a pretty sunflower with snapping teeth, and the length was unchanged.

"There was hardly anything I could do to it." Botan said. "But why the flower?"

Fay shrugged. "It was a gift from…from Dante." Her shoulders fell, her gaze clouding. "He told me that he saw it in a store display and thought of me."

"Oh... I see." Botan fell silent, watching Fay hug the t-shirt to her chest. 'I guess it's a good thing I didn't make any changes to it.' Maybe she shouldn't have even given it to Fay, not when it brought her down again, but then it was gift from the friend she had thought she'd had. "Listen, I know how it feels to lose a friend. I know it's difficult to move on, but you have to try. For your sake as well as your friend. The Dante you knew, would he really want to see you like this?"

Fay shook her head. "No, he'd probably call me stupid and tell me to go skate it off." Her eyes filled with tears that spilled over. "But that doesn't mean I have to be smart and listen to him be stupid." She sniffed, closed her eyes and clutched the shirt to her.

'Oh, Fay.' Botan stood. "I'll, uh...just...hold on.' She left sliding the door closed behind her.

Not long after someone entered, thinking it was Botan; Fay didn't bother to look up until he sat next to her and embraced her. Fay leaned her head against Kurama's shoulder and bid a friend goodbye.

_Next Chapter Preview _

_"Kuwabara's weak enough that he-Hey!"_

_'I've seen samurai movies so…'_

_"You wish me to do what?"_

_"Don't touch me!" _


	37. Chapter 37: Training

CHAPTER 36: Training

"I thought I said twenty minutes," Genkai snapped.

"We're here aren't we," Yusuke retorted.

"Don't get sassy with me, Yusuke. Where are Fay and Kurama?"

"Uhh..." Botan sidled closer to the group. "Fay's taking a little longer than expected to change. She'll be here soon and…Kurama's waiting for her."

"I'll go wait too, then." Jin took off and after a few seconds of hesitation Kuronue followed.

Genkai's eye twitched. 'Boys.' "You two come back here right now!" She commanded.

They stopped. "But…"

"Sorry we're late, totally my fault." Fay waved as she approached the group, Kurama behind her, his green eyes sending them a silent warning.

"About time, those two were about to revel." Yusuke slung an arm around Fay's shoulders. "Ready to be yelled at by an old hag?"

"Do I look like an old hag?" Genkai smirked.

"No, but we all know that inside, you're the same good old Genkai," Yusuke replied.

Fay laughed, covering her mouth when Genkai shot her a glare.

"So, exactly what is this training we're going to be doing? Oh and may I remind you that back home, my name's on the 'do not teach' list. I'm probably number one on their list."

"None of them were Genkai,' Kuwabara boasted. "Just you wait, I bet by this time next week you'll know some neat tricks."

"Okay…so what is this miraculous training?" Fay asked again.

"First,' Genkai turned to the boys. "You boys will be training on your own for a while. I'm sure many of you can learn something from the other."

"As long as no one pairs me up with Kuwabara," Rinku said. "I wanna fight Yusuke."

"Hold it there, boyo," Jin objected. "Yusuke and I have a score to settle, so we do."

"And I said I'm taking him on!" Chu shouted above the sudden argument.

"Why, Yusuke. I didn't know you were so popular with the boys," Fay laughed.

A vein popped in his forehead. "Haha! Why don't you try saying that again, just remind yourself that I'm close enough to do some damage. I do happen to have a marker on me, a permanent one."

"Kuwabara will be helping with Fay's training."

"What?" Fay and Kuwabara echoed, turning to Genkai.

"I guess I understand. Kuwabara's weak enough that he-Hey!" Yusuke dodged Kuwabara's fist.

"Come here, Urameshi! You're gonna pay for that one!" Kuwabara growled.

"Enough you two! Simply put, Fay can defend better against Kuwabara."

"Told you." Yusuke dodged Kuwabara's next strike.

"Perhaps you should reconsider." They turned to Hiei. "If I recall correctly, Fay said she's broken a bone of anyone who tried fighting her, on most occasions. Has it occurred to you that it may be because they were unworthy of the power inside her?"

Kuwabara turned on Hiei. "Are you saying that I'm not good enough, now?"

"Hn! That's right. You'll probably just end up with a broken bone, or two."

'Why I oughta…' Kuwabara glared down at Hiei.

"That's an interesting assumption to make, but there's only one way to find out," Genkai said. "However, Kuwabara will only be swinging a wooden sword at Fay…for now."

"Hold it!" Kuwabara left off his glaring contest with Hiei to turn to Genkai. "I don't fight girls! I don't care if it is a wooden sword, there might be a chance I could hit her!"

"That is supposed to be the point, Kuwabara," Genkai snapped.

"No way! Get Botan to do it," Kuwabara pointed at her. "She's a girl so it should be fine."

Botan shook her head emphatically and backed up. "Sorry, that's not my department."

"Botan is not a fighter, and this is to help Fay, so stop complaining Kuwabara!" Genkai ordered irritation in her voice.

"If Kuwabara is so against it, I'll be happy to help," Touya volunteered. "I do have some experience with a sword."

"Fine, since Kuwabara's being such a dimwit, Touya will be helping. The rest of you, go train."

"Will you be alright, Fay?" Kurama asked still worried.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll see you once we're done training."

"I will be close by if you need me; all you must do is call."

'How sweet, they already sound like a married couple.' Botan thought feeling proud of her accomplishment…or the help and guidance she had offered Fay. 'I definitely outdid myself this time.'

"Come on, Kurama. She's not going to another country, and what could happen with Genkai and Touya with her." Yusuke dragged Kurama off, to the red head's surprise.

Jin looked from the departing group to Fay then suddenly hugged her before taking off. "I'll be seeing ye later, Fay."

Fay blinked in confusion. 'That came out of nowhere.'

Touya's lips curled into a half smile at her expression. "Jin…happens to like you."

"Well that's nice to know. I like him too. Actually I like all of you," Fay replied cheerfully turning to look at Touya.

Touya sweat dropped. "No…I don't think you…get it."

Botan moved in between Fay and Touya. "You'll find Fay's a bit dense in that department. That being said,' Botan gave Touya a smile that sent shivers down his back. "Please try not to mess with all my lovely work!"

"Ah…okay?" Touya replied uncertainly.

Botan's smile sweetened. "Good, well then I'll leave you boys and girls to your training, bye." Botan waved goodbye and headed back to the temple.

'That was weird, wonder what Botan was talking about,' Fay thought.

Genkai picked up the two wooden swords she'd brought with her and threw one to Touya, who caught it, then threw the other to Fay, who dodged to the side. "You're supposed to catch it, girl."

"Oops, sorry." Fay leaned down and picked up the wooden sword. "So…what am I supposed to do with this? Besides play billiards."

"You'll be fending off Touya's strikes and retaliating. This way we'll test your reflexes." Genkai stepped back. "Touya, go on. Fay, pay attention."

'I've seen samurai movies so…' If she remembered right, they held the sword with two hands, although she had seen Hiei use only his right hand. Fay decided to use both and faced Touya.

"Your form is wrong." He informed her.

"My form?" Fay looked down at her body. "What do you mean?" Had she forgotten to tie a shoe lace. 'Nope, all tied.'

"No, what I meant is the way you're holding the sword, its wrong." Touya pointed at her hands with his sword.

"Okay…" Fay moved her hands a few inches apart. "That better?"

Touya sweat dropped. "You really don't know any of this, do you?"

Fay smiled cheerfully and shook her head. "Not a single thing."

'I'm starting to feel a headache coming on.' Genkai thought as she watched the girl botch it up even before she began. 'Never mind what I said, she's worse than Yusuke.' At least Yusuke had a talent for fighting, even if it wasn't with a sword.

"Show her how to hold the sword." Genkai bid Touya. He nodded and moved to Fay, placing her hands where they should be, then explained the best stance for her to take. He went on to show her the basic blocks and thrusts, and Genkai made a few adjustments of her own.

"Do you get the basics now?" Genkai asked impatiently an hour an a half later.

Fay nodded, "Yeah, I think so."

"Good, Touya attack her, and don't hold back."

Touya nodded looking uncertain. Still when he attacked, he did as Genkai bid. He didn't land a strike but it wasn't because she blocked, it was because she dodged to the side.

"I told you to block, not dodge!" Genkai barked.

"I'm sorry, I did that on instinct." Fay took on the stance they'd shown her. "Okay, let's try this again."

She dodged three more times, to Genkai's growing irritation, then when she finally stood her ground she closed her eyes and swung out with the sword. Touya easily dodged, but when he thought she would be able to block, she dropped the sword and his strike landed on her wrist.

He dropped his own sword when she clutched her wrist and approached her. "I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen. Is it bad?"

Fay shook her head. "No, I've had a whole lot worse before, no need to worry."

"Touya stop coddling her! She's had giant claws protruding from her stomach. Compared to that this is only a scratch!"

Fay winced. 'Thank you Genkai for reminding me.'

"Both of you pick up your swords and try again, and this time pay attention to what you're doing Fay! Oh and another thing,' Genkai turned to Touya. "You're still going too easy on her! Pick up your pace!"

Touya understood what Genkai was trying to do, and he also understood that this was for Fay's benefit, yet he couldn't help feeling as if they were being too rough on her. Fay obviously didn't know a single thing about combat. He handed Fay the sword and waited while she shook out her wrist and took the right stance. "Ready."

Genkai closed her eyes in thought after watching the two 'fence' and she used the word loosely, for a while. 'He's still going too easy on her. We'll never get anywhere this way.' She also knew none of the others would seriously attack her. Kurama might be a possibility, if he weren't so damn enamored of the girl. Genkai also knew that as tough as Hiei talked, he'd never raise a hand or in his case sword, against Fay. 'Bunch of softies.'

Of course that still left her, but Genkai had the feeling that striking at the source of the power that now dwelt within her wouldn't be the best idea. Which left her with one option.

"Enough, Touya." The two came to a standstill, turning to her. "Stay with Fay, I will return soon." She left.

"Wonder what Genkai's doing now?" Fay dropped the wooden sword and sat down.

"That's going to leave a mark."

Fay looked up at Touya, then down at her wrist. "I told you, it's no big deal. I've gotten a whole lot worse. You do remember how you found me, right?"

Touya sat down next to her and nodded. "Yes, it's difficult to forget your state at the time. Though,' he inspected her. "You're much improved since then."

Fay chuckled, resting her head on her palm. "That's an understatement."

Touya had an idea what Genkai had gone off to do. He knew that with the right words, she might actually manage it. It would not have the best impact on them both. He also knew it wasn't any of his business but in the end…his curiosity and a need to know won out, so he found himself speaking.

"Fay, I have a question. It's a little personal so feel free not to answer."

"Okay, shoot."

"What…I mean…why is it that you love Kurama? What makes you believe that you do?"

Fay turned to him, surprised at the question. Touya was sure she wouldn't answer, but finally she did. "Do you want the fairytale answer or the confusing one?"

"Whichever you choose to give," He answered not really understanding what she meant by that statement.

"Well…' Fay pulled up her knees and rested her chin against them, giving it some thought. "At the beginning I think I liked his looks as well as the way he speaks…no, the way he is. He was kind to me from the very start. So I think I became infatuated. It's strange; I've had other guys say nice stuff to me. I mean seriously flowery stuff that would make any sane person gag." She was of course, thinking of both Astor and Zadkiel, when his memories had been put on backwards. "But I just thought they were weirdos on their own agendas," Which had also proven truth, at least with Astor and a few others. "But all I felt for those guys was annoyance with a healthy dose of disgust."

"I see." Touya was starting to feel bad for both Jin and Kuronue. Neither spoke the way Fay said those others did but…Fay seemed oblivious to them as well.

"It was different with Kurama,' she continued. "It's as if the moment he stepped into my life, it changed, or maybe I began to change. I wanted to see him smile. Even when I didn't believe he'd look at me twice, I think I felt happiest when I could see him smile and be next to him. Of course that posed a problem to me because I wanted to tell him, but I was scared. I think maybe that's why I learned to run. If I ran from him, I ran from my feelings." Her gaze took on a faraway cast. "I also know that I would follow him wherever he leads."

Never having fallen in love, Touya didn't really understand some of what Fay told him. He supposed that some things needed to be experienced to be understood. So he asked his next question. "What…what if he were to hurt you, for what he believed to be your own good?"

"If you're asking what I would do, I can't answer that because I don't know. But it wouldn't stop me from loving him. I don't think I'd know how to go about undoing what I feel for him." She smiled in apology. "Sorry, I guess it doesn't really answer your first question so I'll give you the fairytale one. There isn't one reason why I love Kurama, there are way too many to count, so to make it simple, I love him because he is who he is. I wouldn't change anything about him. It doesn't matter what he does, my feelings will never disappear." Even that didn't feel as if it answered Touya's question.

Fay was curious as to why Touya had had the sudden urge for a heart to heart. Fay thought Botan or Keiko the most likely to drag her into this type of conversation, not Touya.

"So why ask me that?"

"Well,' Touya looked away, his grim silence starting to worry her, but then he turned back and smiled. "Kurama's very lucky to have you. I think you'll be fine."

'Now I'm really worried.' Fay pursed her lips, trying to figure out what Touya was talking about. 'Oh well, no sense in worrying too much.'

"So could we change the subject, I'm kinda getting embarrassed now." She said scratching her cheek. She wasn't used to talking about her feelings, especially with a guy. Botan...well it was just easier to give in than argue.

Touya chuckled and nodded. "Very well. What is it that you do as a pastime?"

Fay grinned. "Skating. It's the best ever, and I just happen to be an expert at it."

* * *

"You wish me to do what?" Kurama asked in disbelief.

"It's the only way. None of the others will do it, and I know you can put your feelings aside long enough to get results."

Kurama's hands tightened into fists and he shook his head. "I will not. I cannot simply put these feelings aside. I have hidden them long enough."

"Kurama, don't be hardheaded. What you do here may very well save her life at a later point." Genkai's tone turned sterner. "Or do you think you can stay with her every second of every hour? I know you have a brain inside your head, so use it!"

Kurama bit his lip, his expression hidden by his hair. He knew Genkai had a point but…could he truly risk her turning from him? The answer came quickly enough; he would if it meant her safety. But he also knew that he would use any means necessary to keep Fay at his side. He would not let her go, not easily.

"Very well." He finally spoke, his tone cold. "But this will happen only once, do not ask me to attempt it a second time." He walked past Genkai.

"Fair enough." She replied.

* * *

"What would he mean by nobler?" Fay asked. "I don't think there's anyone nobler than Kurama."

"I agree, but his words have stayed with me since the tournament." Touya hadn't understood Kurama's words back then but he was beginning too. "This light really makes you feel regret for past actions, past mistakes but…' he'd been looking up at the blue of the sky, now he turned to Fay. "It also makes you want to change. So when the time comes I'll be stronger, and I can stand against my past regrets. I won't forget them but they won't drag me down with guilt."

"That's really deep." Fay was a little awed at Touya, more so because she wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. She knew that people had regrets, but she doubted that his regrets were anything like hers. Her regrets were small enough; she regretted not doing her homework when it was due the next day, regretted spending her time skating a little more than she should when that project due the next week wasn't even started. Fay doubted those were the types of regrets Touya was talking about.

"Even if you can't change the past, you still have your future. That gives you the rest of your life to become who you want to be," She grinned. "At least that's what my grandma says. Of course…the last time grandma said that she was loading up her sixth hunting rifle and heading for Italy."

Touya sweat dropped. "I...see."

Her face suddenly lit up and she stood. "Genkai's back and Kurama's with her." she ran to meet them slowing down beside Kurama.

'Looks like Genkai convinced him after all.' Touya stood, waiting until they reached him.

"Kurama…" Touya looked up at the red head as he stopped. "Perhaps you should reconsider."

Kurama turned away, an impassive expression on his face. "No."

'I've never seen him act this way,' Touya thought. 'Not even when we fought.'

Fay looked from Touya to Kurama. "Is…is something wrong?" She'd noticed Kurama acting different, he hadn't smiled at her and she'd begun to worry that she'd done something wrong, but he would tell her in that case…wouldn't he?

"Kurama will be replacing Touya as your sparring partner," Genkai explained.

'Is that why they're looking so serious?' Fay didn't mind training with Kurama, but Touya's uneasy expression as well as Kurama's worried her. She bit her lip and nodded.

"Here,' Touya picked up the wooden sword and handed it to her. "You're going to need this, for all the protection it'll give you." He moved away, joining Genkai.

"You realize that this could go wrong," He told her.

Genkai nodded, "I understand what I'm doing, even if the rest of you don't. I believe Kurama understands as well. I suppose we'll have to hope that Fay does too…later on, if not at this moment."

'I still don't get it, why is everyone acting like someone died?' Sure she'd been acting that way not that long ago but they hadn't really known Dante, at least not as anything else than an enemy.

"I understand Touya and Genkai taught you the basics."

Fay turned to Kurama who had reached into his hair and brought out a rose. "Yeah, I can't say I'm doing all that well on it though." Why wasn't he picking up the other wooden sword?

'And why does he look so closed off?' She'd seen that expression before but it had never been this…harsh and never directed at her, not really. It unnerved her.

Uncertain, Fay took a step forward. "Kurama…what's wrong?"

With a flick of his wrist the rose petals fell away and his rosewhip was revealed. "I will warn you only once; take this seriously for I will not go easy on you."

Fay backed away, her eyes widening in understanding. 'Touya must've known about this…is that why he asked me those questions?'

"Brace yourself."

The whip lashed out at her, and she knew that it wouldn't stop if she just stood there. Fay brought up the wooden sword to block the rosewhip. It stopped it, but only long enough for her to duck before the wooden sword broke, the thorny whip passing over her head.

'He's serious.' Fay rolled to her left before the whip managed to hit her. She couldn't really say she understood why he was being so…so…ruthless, but she knew he meant it. It made her want to scream at him to stop it, but he never gave her any chance to do more than dodge his next attack. Even that was beginning to become difficult. 'I really wish I had my skates now.' Actually Fay wished he would stop before she started crying, but that didn't seem all that possible right now.

The whip graced her ankle, tearing at the fabric of her pants. She yelped, stumbling back. Kurama hesitated for the merest of seconds before he continued his attack. The next hit left her right arm bleeding.

"Enough Genkai, you're making both of them suffer!" Touya exclaimed.

Genkai shook her head. "No, it's still too soon."

Gritting his teeth, Touya turned back to the two. 'But…this may very well accomplish nothing.'

Fay slapped a hand to her bleeding cheek, her gaze watery. 'Why isn't he stopping?' He knew she was nowhere near advanced enough to even come close to matching him.

She'd never tried a back handspring without her skates, but Fay knew it was either that or let the whip land another hit. So she did it, desperately trying to make herself believe she had her skates on.

The whip missed even as she repeated her action, creating more space between them.

The next strike had her twisting in midair and she landed wrong, twisting her left ankle. 'Damn it! This is why I don't try this stuff without my skates!'

She didn't move fast enough this time, Fay braced herself for the pain but all she felt was the rush of air as the whip struck the ground to her left, dirt flying upward. It left her feeling frightened even as her mind whirled, trying to figure out what had brought on this change to Kurama.

Fay knew the descending strike would hit this time but, eyes wide; all she could do was watch.

"Enough!" Hiei appeared in front of her, grabbing the rosewhip before it struck and jerking it away from Kurama. "Do you really think this will accomplish anything useful other than her going to sleep for another week?" he directed his question at Genkai rather than Kurama, who stood frozen, as if unable to believe he'd actually gone through with it.

"Why don't you look behind you," Genkai suggested.

Hiei stilled when he heard the crackle of energy behind him. He quickly turned, surprise in his eyes when he saw the aquamarine energy snapping around her. She was sitting up, but for all the awareness Hiei could see in her eyes, she might as well be sleeping with her eyes open. "Fay…" he reached out to touch her but she flinched away.

"_Don't touch me!" _The scream echoed, turning into another musical note. It swam with emotions that made Hiei stagger back, even as the sound solidified around them in a sphere.

'What…what the hell is this?' Hiei looked at what he thought was a force field. It encircled them like a large sphere, but this was different. It was like looking at the inside of an old clock; Transparent gears and cogs clicked around them, small within large, large within even larger ones.

"I told you it would work, even if we had to do it the hard way." Genkai walked closer to inspect the barrier, Touya at her side. "I will admit that I never expected something quite like this."

Kurama sped past them, stopping only because of the barrier. "Fay!" he shouted striking the barrier with his fists.

'Now we're left with the question; was it worth it?' Touya thought grimly.

Hiei turned back to Fay. She hadn't moved, and her expression was the same. "You can bring down the barrier now, it's over." She gripped his coat tightly but otherwise remained unmoved.

Hiei gritted his teeth. He wouldn't admit it to anyone else, but he was starting to worrying. "Enough! Get a hold of yourself Fay. Believe it or not Kurama did it for your own good, so stop acting like a baby!" That didn't exactly mean he'd liked the method.

Kurama stopped pounding on the shield, his expression pained. This was the first he had seen Fay this…lifeless, he hated it. 'There is no one to blame but myself.'

He had been the one to decide in the end. He could have refused. Kurama stepped back and turned away.

"If you go now there's a good chance you won't be able to fix this," Touya warned.

"I cannot fix what I have broken beyond repair." Kurama replied impassively as he walked passed Touya. However, it did not necessarily mean he would leave things as they stood.

Before he'd taken more than a dozen steps, her arms suddenly wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Don't go Kurama,' Fay pleaded. "I promise I'll do better next time, just please, don't go!"

She tightened her grip when he grasped her hands. "Fay, let go."

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head but in the end did as he asked, so she missed when he turned around. Her eyes snapped open when he cradled her head in his hands and leaned close.

"There will be no next time; I will never repeat my actions again." He wiped away her tears with his thumps, leaned in and kissed her.

"I think we're a third wheel now, boys. Let's go." Genkai turned, leading them away.

* * *

"You little punk! I swear when I get down there I'm gonna make you cry to your mommy!"

Rinku let out a disgruntled sigh. 'Why do I always end up stuck with him?'

He'd really tried not to end up in this situation, but the others had quickly paired off and he had gotten stuck with Kuwabara.

The taller youth had begun to brag about how much stronger he was since the last time they'd fought. Rinku had quickly grown annoyed so he'd used the same trick, no surprise it had worked…again, and since he couldn't let Kuwabara drop this time, he'd deposited him in the branches of the highest tree he'd found. Too bad he couldn't stop him from talking.

'I wonder where Kurama went.' The red head had been sparring with Kuronue, no big surprise there, but Genkai had asked to talk to him, so Kuronue had paired off with Jin who had been impatiently waiting for Yusuke to beat Chu. 'Maybe I'll just go look for him, that way I'll finally get an actual challenge.' He started off only to stop when Kuwabara shouted down at him again.

"Hey where are you going! You have to get me down from here first you pipsqueak!"

Rinku looked up. "Don't tell me you can't even get down from a tree. I'm a kid and even I can do that."

"Does it look like I have wings!" Kuwabara shouted down, waving a fist. He quickly lost his balance and clung to a branch.

"Think of it as training for your brain!"

"Okay that's it! You're really asking for it brat!'

'Like he could back up his threats.' Rinku rolled his eyes and turned to leave, ignoring Kuwabara's shouts.

"Oh, Touya!" Rinku waved when he spotted him. "Are you done training with Fay?" He didn't see her, and why was Hiei with them too?

Touya nodded looking distracted.

"I haven't gotten in any training in over an hour thanks to Kuwabara." Rinku turned to Hiei. "How about sparring with me, Hiei? I bet I could…" He trailed off when Hiei passed by him without a look. "You're better off fighting Kuwabara."

"You better not be making fun of me, Hiei!" Kuwabara shouted down.

Hiei looked up at him. "I feel bad for the tree, having to put up with your incessant shouting."

"Hey!" Kuwabara shouted down.

"I take it the others are still training?" Genkai's answer came as a blast from Yusuke's spirit gun hurling off into the distance. "Never mind."

They felt the force of another energy blast, this one followed by Chu's raucous laughter.

"Hey, Chu! How does a bunch of trees look like me?" They heard Yusuke shout.

"And I suppose my eyes remind yah of the sky!" Chu shouted back.

"Keep dreaming!"

'At least someone's having fun,' Rinku thought disgruntled.

The wind picked up above them, followed by Jin shouting out his attack. Kuronue flashed past above, avoiding Kuwabara by a few inches. Kuwabara screamed in alarm when he saw Jin's attack headed straight at him. Acting on instinct he jumped down, landing on legs that gave out beneath him while branches fell, covering him.

"Sorry pal!" Jin yelled down as he passed.

"It's impossible to train with those four trying not to vut off your limbs!" Shishi joined them, tugging leaves off his hair and dirt off his clothes.

Suzuka followed, his footsteps making squishing sounds as he walked. "I don't know what smells worse, the water I fell into or what Dante forced into my lungs." He turned to Genkai. "So how did Fay's training go? Any breakthroughs?"

"Yes, she can now create a barrier. Let's hope she remembers how to do it again."

Genkai then ordered them back to training, Kurama joining them half an hour later.

* * *

"I still can't believe Kurama did that! It could have ruined everything!" Botan huffed. She had been going to check on how the training was going when she'd witnessed the fight…if it could have been called that.

"I told you, he did it to help me. Besides, he only grazed me." Fay remembered Kurama saying he wouldn't go easy on her, but in truth he'd held back, a lot. She doubted she'd have such shallow wounds if he hadn't.

Shizuru sat on the cushion, setting the drink she'd brought Fay on the low Japanese table. "If Fay isn't mad at him, there's no reason for us to be."

"Of course there is!" Botan slapped her palms on the table. "A boy just doesn't do that! Especially to someone who has no training in…' she stopped, remembering what she'd seen. "Why didn't you tell us you could do that, Fay?"

Fay thanked Yukina as she finished wrapping the bandage on her arm. "The worse was your ankle but it should heal soon," Yukina said.

Fay nodded in thanks and turned to Botan. "Do you mean the barrier?"

"I think she means those acrobatic moves you pulled." Juri said before biting into the chocolate muffin.

"Don't hog them all to yourself." Koto snatched one from Juri's plate and bit into it, her ears twitching with contentment. "We don't have anything like this back in Demon world."

"Here, have one." Keiko passed one to Fay and Shizuru. "Do you want one Botan?" she asked, feeding Puu a small piece.

"Sure thanks,' Botan turned back to Fay. "Don't think you're getting out of it. Those moves you pulled, you never told us you were a gymnast."

Fay shuddered. "I have nothing against them, but I will never wear a leotard. Ever." She passed Yukina a muffin. She took it with a smile of thanks.

"Well then what do you call what you did out there?" The grim reaper demanded.

"Inline skating tricks." Fay said as if it should be obvious. "As much as I don't like to admit it, one of my sister's life calling is cheer leading, or so she says. I used to watch her and thought some of her moves would look great on skates. So I read a little more into it and a few others, altered them somewhat, and learned them on my skates." It had not been easy. "If I'd had my skates on I would definitely not have twisted my ankle."

Botan sweat dropped. "So…you're saying that…you can't pull of those moves without your skates?"

Fay shook her head. "I can, but not very well, as I proved."

Shizuru smiled, ruffling Fay's hair. "You're one strange girl, you know."

She looked up at her in confusion. "Why?"

Shizuru shook her head. "Never mind." She took a bite of the chocolate muffin.

Fay shrugged and turned to Koto when she spoke.

"Well you're a lot more forgiving than I am. I would have been running the other way, as fast as my legs could carry me."

Juri nodded in agreement. "Yeah me too. Kurama may be cute, but I prefer the gentler type of guy."

"Hey, I'll have you know Kurama's gentle!" Fay said defensively.

'And I definitely wouldn't be defending him.' Koto added silently.

"Then it's a good thing Fay's more understanding than you…' Botan paused. "Hold on, shouldn't you two be out training?"

Koto and Juri glanced at each other. "We were going to head out when we uh...caught the last part of Fay's training."

"And we decided that we're not ready for that type of training," Juri finished. "Especially if it means I might break a nail…or worse."

"You'll never get anywhere with that attitude." Botan warned them.

Both demon girls looked at each other, took a bite of their muffins and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not important, besides I'd much prefer being a referee and watching the battle to actually being in a battle."

Before Botan could reply, the sliding door opened and Hiei stepped in, followed by Genkai.

"You two, come with me." Genkai beckoned to Koto and Juri. Both girls tensed.

"Uh…if this is about the training, we've changed our minds,' Juri said.

Genkai's gaze narrowed dangerously. "I'm not asking your opinion, I'm telling you."

"Noo! I don't wanna end up with pale skin. It doesn't suit me." Juri hurried to run away but Botan caught her by the back of the pink blouse she still wore.

"Don't worry; I'm sure Genkai will go easy on both of you." Botan had already caught Koto by the scruff of her shirt and now dragged them after her. Looking a little too pleased, she followed Genkai out.

Fay pursed her lips to hide her smile. 'I think they're overreacting.' She took a sip of her drink, glancing over at Shizuru as she stood. "Come on, Keiko. Let's go show Koto and Juri our support."

"Oh…okay." Keiko stood up picking up Puu, who was happily munching on a piece of the muffin, and followed her out, only stopping to look back at Yukina. "Why don't you join us, they might need your help."

"Of course." Yukina stood up, grabbing the bandages. "We'll see you later Fay. Please try to stay off your feet for a little while."

"I will bye." Fay waved as Yukina walked past Hiei, following Keiko out.

Fay had thought Hiei would follow them out, but instead he went to a corner of the room and sat down, completely ignoring her.

"Why aren't you training with the others?" she asked.

"Hn! Isn't it obvious, someone has to babysit you." He answered eyes closed.

"Oh…right." Fay trailed off finishing another bite of the muffin. "Are you mad at me?"

He opened one eye. "Are we on this again?"

It took her a moment to realize why he'd said that, when she did she smiled. "Sorry, my bad. Why don't you come sit here, the cushions are much more comfortable you know."

He didn't answer his eye closing.

"You want a chocolate muffin? They're really good." She offered holding one out.

He didn't respond.

'He is mad!' Fay fumed. She had known Hiei for a while now that she, at least sometimes, realized when he was and was not mad. 'I just wish he would just tell me so I don't have to try to figure it out on my own!' Fay also wanted to know what she had done to make him mad.

"Hn!"

She contemplated demanding he stop reading her mind, but figured it wouldn't do much good when he hadn't listened before. 'Okay, so if you're reading my mind, mind telling me why you're angry?' He didn't answer, looking as if he'd fallen asleep.

Still fuming, Fay bit into her muffin, staring at him in hope that at least that would make him do something. That usually worked. Meanwhile she went over the last two hours, trying to figure out… "Oh! I'm sorry. Is that why you're mad? I didn't mean it you know. I was just…confused at the time."

"I don't even care about it, why would I be angry?" he scoffed.

'Cause, you remember it?' "So…I didn't hurt your feelings when I shouted at you?" she inquired evenly.

That got his attention. Hiei's eyes snapped open in a menacing glare directed at her. "Why would I give a damn about you shouting at me, besides the annoyance of it? Do I look like a little girl in skirts?"

Fay blinked and shook her head once, her gaze sliding away. "Nooo." She said slowly.

His eyes narrowed. "What are you trying to hide from me now?" He was suddenly beside her, and she quickly bit down on her muffin, trying to think of something that would throw him off.

'I know.' She smiled up at him. "I just thought you look really cute when you're pouting."

Fay watched as his expression went from startled to glaring once more. "I do not pout!"

It was tempting fate, but she took the chance of him having his mouth open and stuck one of the smaller muffins into it.

"Sorry I uh…annoyed you. So is there a chance you'd let me see your Jagan eye now?" she asked the last in a hopeful tone.

He sat down cross legged beside her, his death glare turning into a smirk, after he removed the muffin from his mouth. "No."

'Figured as much.' Fay thought, but this way she wasn't in danger of a close encounter with his sword.

"Since you're kinda stuck looking after me for a while, wanna play a card game?" She asked him.

"No." he answered, biting into the muffin.

"Then I think we should make plans."

"For what?"

"For your happy reunion, when you tell Yukina you're her brother. Though…try not to make it too sappy."

His eye twitched. "I told you this once; I will not be telling her that! So drop it or lose your head!"

"Okay, so we're back to the card game."

"No!"

AN: Thanks for D101 for the continued reviews^^ See you next chapter.

_Next Chapter Preview _

"_How did you twist your ankle?"_

"…_start thinking of him as enemy…"_

"_Because I worked too hard on this project…"_

"_The rest of us would prefer not being blinded!"_


	38. Chapter 38: Lull

CHAPTER 37: Lull

"That's not possible! You have to be cheating; I never lose at this game!"

"I have no reason to cheat,' Hiei scoffed. "This is a simple child's game."

The sliding door opened on their conversation, Yusuke walking in and stopping when he caught sight of them. "Hold on…Hiei playing cards?" He looked at Fay. "How did you manage that?"

"It has nothing to do with you, detective." Hiei stood up dropping the cards and moving away.

"No, Hiei! We have to play again! I can't let you walk away with my champion title!" she called out reaching across the table.

"Ha! Why don't you try again when you've actually learned how to play."

'Why I oughta…' Fay gnashed her teeth, glaring at his back.

"I'll play with ye if yah want." Jin said walking over to sit across the table from her.

"Yeah, sure but aren't you tired?" she pointed at his clothes. "And what happened to you, I thought you were training, not playing with swords in a fort made out of mud." Fay looked over at the others. Their clothes were all rumpled, not to mention dirty and torn.

"That is what our type of training does." Rinku walked over to join her and Jin. "It wouldn't be training if we came back with our clothes all in order."

Fay wrinkled her nose. "Does that mean you have to smell like onions…in hot water?" Not that she actually knew what that smelled like.

"It's not like it's my fault," Suzuka grumbled. "If Jin had actually aimed his attack, I wouldn't have ended up in that water."

"I aimed just fine; ye're the one standing in the wrong place," Jin shot back.

"I was not! I specifically remember stating that…"

'Sorry I asked.' Fay thought wryly when the two began arguing.

"Enough with the blue, you two. What I'm needing now is a good-"

"Bath," Shishi interrupted Chu. "I still have leaves in my hair." He looked over at Yusuke. "You do have a place here to take care of that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll show you guys." He turned to Fay. "So, who's cooking this time?"

"I think Botan and Keiko. I would do it myself, but I had a little accident." She motioned to her leg.

"First day of training and you get hurt. You really are accident prone," Yusuke said.

Fay threw the cards still in her hand at him, not that it did any good. "At least I don't look like the wrong version of Cinderella."

Yusuke's eye twitched and he leaned in closer across the table. "What did you say?"

Fay smirked. "You heard me, or do you,' she paused for effect. "Want me to make a play on your name Yusu-" He clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Maybe I should remind you of some stories I know," he taunted.

Fay reached over and pinched his cheeks, stretching them. "Wu douln dare!" she mumbled beneath his palm.

"Does does this happen a lot?" Suzuka asked.

Kuwabara shrugged. "Just when they feel like it. You'll get used to it."

"Shouldn't you be showing the others where they can get cleaned up, Yusuke?"

The two simultaneously released each other, looking over at the door where Kurama and Kuronue stood. "Well she started it!" he pointed an accusing finger down at Fay.

"That's a lie and you know it!" Fay turned to Jin. "Yusuke started it right Jin?"

Jin faltered, looking from Yusuke to Fay. "Emm…right…Yusuke's been starting it." He finally said.

"Jin, you traitor!" Yusuke shouted.

"Sorry, Yusuke, a boy's gotta have priorities!" Jin called back as he took off down the corridor, Yusuke behind him.

"What priorities are those supposed to be!" They heard Yusuke shout.

Fay was about to make a face at Yusuke's departing back when she remembered Kurama was there. "I think you guys should follow him." She told the group of boys instead.

"Hopefully they don't run out some back door," Shishi grumbled.

"We'll see you later, Fay." Rinku ran after the first two, the others following him.

Touya paused by her. "Glad to see you're looking better."

She nodded, waving as he walked away.

"How did you twist your ankle?" Fay turned to Kuronue who approached her and knelt on her right.

"I tried a trick better left for skating," she explained. "No biggie."

"You should be more careful, then." Kuronue didn't look convinced with her explanation, especially when he didn't really know what 'skating' was, but Kurama stepped closer, his eyes narrowing in warning. "You should join the others, Kuronue. I will be there soon."

The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, Fay wondering if they'd gotten into an argument, but then Kuronue smiled and stood.

"Take care." He headed down the corridor, leaving Fay wondering what that had been about.

"Aren't you getting along with Kuronue?" she asked Kurama.

His green gaze warmed, a smile curling his lips as he sat next to her. "On the contrary, we could almost be best friends. With the exception of Youko, of course."

"Oh,' she smiled. "That's good to know. I was worrying for a second there."

"You should be on your feet soon,' he said checking her ankle gently. "Provided you do nothing strenuous."

"I won't." she assured him, trying to keep her blush down.

"Good, then I will see you in a little while." He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

Fay reminded herself not to scuttle backward or do something stupid, like squeal. "Kay." She mumbled as he stood.

He turned to the opened door. "Hiei, I'll leave you to look after her until my return."

"Hn!" Came the reply from the shadows of night that had fallen outside. "Like I have a choice."

Kurama simply smiled and headed down the corridor. Fay watched until he was out of sight then turned to the shadow she thought was Hiei. "Okay, I demand a rematch!"

Before he could answer, more voices drifted from outside, soon followed by the girls.

"Someone, help!" Juri whined tears in her eyes as she dragged herself inside. Koto followed, looking worn out. "How can anyone survive more than one day of that type of training," she complained. "I think I hurt my back."

"Don't be so dramatic, Genkai went easy on both of you," Botan chided.

"You didn't have to go through it," Koto grumbled.

"I need a long soak." Juri managed to get to her tired feet and stumbled for the corridor. "And then I think I'll do like Fay and sleep for a week or two."

"It's not like I chose to do that." Fay yelled after Juri.

"We know, sweetie," Botan assured her. "She's just being overdramatic."

"Speaking of which,' Shizuru put out her cigarette before stepping inside. "We better get dinner ready or those boys will revolt."

"You're right,' Keiko walked over to Fay, handing her Puu. "Do you mind looking after him while we take care of dinner?"

Fay shook her head, cuddling Puu. "Nope, I'll be happy to look after Puu."

"Thanks." Keiko headed for the kitchen, while Juri poked her head back into the room. "Uh, where do I go for a good soak?"

"Yukina, show them to the hot spring. I have a few things to look into." Genkai said heading in the opposite direction.

"Of course," Yukina joined Juri, waiting until Koto, who'd half fallen asleep on the ground, woke up enough to follow them.

Botan and Shizuru went to help Keiko, promising to call her as soon as dinner was ready.

'Note to self; try not to end up hurt again.' Fay really disliked not being able to move, when most of her life that's what she'd been doing, moving really fast.

Her shoulders slumped when that thought led her right back to Dante.

"I hope you're going to do something about that." Hiei's voice reached her and she looked back outside.

"About what?" she asked.

"That foolish soft spot you seem to still have for that fool we'll have to kill sooner or later."

Fay winced at his chosen words. "I…" she squeezed Puu but when he squealed slackened her grip. "Sorry Puu." She cuddled him closer her gaze lowered. "I know what may very well happen but…" she turned back to Hiei, her gaze shimmering. "Is it so bad for me to hope he'll go back to being the Dante I knew?"

"Yes." he said cuttingly. "If you make one of us hesitate again, you may very well cause our death. I can assure you that Dante won't hesitate. So start thinking of him as enemy, because apparently, you haven't yet."

Fay looked away, giving a weak nod. "I'll try."

"Do more than try."

"Puu." She looked down as Puu reached up and patted her cheek.

"Thanks Puu, I'll be fine."

* * *

"This is nice,' Juri sat herself down in the hot spring water. "I've never been to a hot spring before."

Koto splashed into the water, causing it to splatter over Juri's face.

"Can you not do that!" she wiped the hot water from her face while trying to glare at Koto who'd come up for air.

"Don't tell me you don't like it, I mean you're a water demon after all."

"Of course I like it; I just know how to enjoy it better than some other people."

Koto rolled her eyes. 'Whatever.'

She started swimming around, enjoying the heat that warmed her body. 'It feels great after all that training Genkai put us through.' She had to figure out a way to avoid that training again. 'Anymore and I won't be able to move for weeks.'

"Kuwabara get your butt of my face!"

"It's not my fault, Urameshi! Chu keeps trying to drown me!"

"Would you guys stop splashing around!" They heard Rinku shout. "I'm the one who's going to end up drowning if you keep it up!"

Both girls looked to the high wooden fence between them and the boy's side. "They can't peek in here…can they?" Juri asked warily.

"No." Genkai said as she joined them. "If they try they'll get a nasty surprise."

"That's good to know." Koto said, curious as to what the surprise would be. Maybe she should try to provoke them.

"I don't suggest you try it either." Genkai warned Koto when she took a few steps in the wall's direction. "Or you'll get the same surprise."

'Damn!' Koto stopped, submerging herself deeper in water instead. 'Oh well, guess I'll just have to wait for another fight to break out.'

* * *

When the boys finally made it to dinner, the table had already been set and food served.

"Which one's mine? I'm starving." Rinku hurried to the table, looking from one plate to another.

"Whichever you choose,' Botan informed him. "Just do it quickly before they're all taken." Rinku quickly chose, sitting himself on the cushion.

There were several of the low tables placed together by the girls, since one wasn't long enough for everyone to eat on.

It didn't take long for the boys to start in on their food and almost everyone else soon followed, until Botan noticed that Fay kept looking from her chopsticks to the food.

"Don't you like the food, Fay?" That Botan remembered, Fay had never complained about it before.

"Yeah, something wrong, Fay?" Yusuke asked in between bites.

"Umm…no, but…could I use a fork instead?" Until now she'd been using forks, so there had been no problem, and she'd prefer to keep it that way.

"You don't know how to use chopsticks?" Keiko asked. "It's not that hard, here I'll show you."

Fay shook her head. "It's not going to do much good. I've tried this several times before. It never works and I err…end up causing stuff to fall." In a way.

"Oh come on it can't be that bad," Botan encouraged.

Fay sighted. She hated to bring this up. "Look, the last time I tried using chopsticks, I caused what students in my school now refer to as the food fight of 0'8."

That got everyone's attention, as she hoped it wouldn't.

"The what of what, now?" Yusuke asked setting his chopsticks down.

"Please don't make me repeat myself," She mumbled. It was bad enough Kurama was here to hear about it.

"How does you using chopsticks cause a food fight?" Rinku asked curiously.

"Yes, I am curious as well." Kurama's tone was inquiring.

Feeling flushed, Fay explained. "It's not like I didn't warn my friends, but they said it'd be okay this time since I was older. Obviously they forgot I'm banned from ever returning to four Chinese restaurants and two Japanese ones,' she mumbled the last though it was clear enough for the others to hear. "Anyway one day they ended up serving some kind of Japanese noodles, and Nina and Samantha decided it'd be great to try to eat them with chopsticks and…well one thing led to another, and the noodles I was trying to eat ended up on another kid's face, he spilled his food, someone else tripped over it, her food ended up on someone's face…" Fay shrugged. "And all hell broke loose. Then, after the teachers finally managed to stop it, half the students, those who knew anyway, ended up ratting me out!" she groused.

Chu burst into laughter. "Atta girl, Fay!"

"I don't know about anyone else, but I don't feel like having food in my hair just after I cleaned up." Suzuka said seconds before Yusuke burst out laughing. "So, have you gone anywhere that didn't turn into a disaster area?"

Fay turned to glare at him, ignoring that Jin and Kuwabara had decided to join in. "I am not Isis!" she was contemplating splattering food on his face when Shizuru took the chopsticks from her hand and replaced them with a fork. "Here, I don't think Genkai would like to have her place turned into a cafeteria."

"It already is one with all of you in it, but I'd rather not have the walls decorated with food." Genkai said before taking a bite of her food.

"Thanks." Fay mumbled elbowing Yusuke when he tried to stifle his laughter and didn't quite manage. She wasn't going to look in Kurama's direction; she could hear him chuckling anyway.

* * *

After dinner the rest of the girls headed for the hot springs while the boys cleaned up the after dinner mess.

"You've really never been to a hot spring before?" Botan asked Fay, who was enjoying swimming around.  
"No, but I've been to an indoor heated pool," she answered. "There was this one time we were going to go to one, but my grandma burst into the room and said it was time we get going. Then she pulled out a rope from her backpack, swung it down the window, and told us this way it would be more fun."

All but Yukina sweat dropped.

"Was it?" Yukina asked.

"I doubt it would have been fun under normal circumstances, but add my grandma's shouting to hurry up while someone was trying to break down the blockaded door…and no, not really."

"What…does your grandmother do?" Keiko asked after some hesitation.

"I think we're safer off not knowing." Shizuru put in before Fay could respond.

"It's not like I could tell you anyway. When I first asked she said she traveled for her job, the next time she said she was a photographer, and the next one, I think she ran out of ideas, so she told me she painted houses, then after some thought changed it to portraits."

"I…see." Botan's smile was strained.

They stayed in a little longer, then Keiko, Botan, Yukina, and Shizuru got out. "Don't stay in much longer, Fay." Botan warned her.

"Don't worry; I'll be out in a few minutes." Whether Botan said anything else, Fay didn't hear since she submerged herself in water. 'My ankle's feeling a lot better now, which means I'll be fine by tomorrow.' She had to remember to thank Yukina again. In any other circumstances, she'd be off her feet for a week.

"Fay, it's time to come out now, dear. Kurama's asking for you." Botan slid the door open and walked out, blinking in puzzlement when she didn't see Fay. 'Did she get out already? I didn't see her.' She was about to turn away when she saw the long strands of hazel hair on the water. Her eyes widened in panic. 'Don't tell me,' Botan splashed into the water. "Don't you have any sense of self preservation? You're going to end up running out of lives!" Botan finally managed to grab a hold of Fay by the arms and hauled her up into her own. "If anybody can hear me, I could use some help! Oh and bring Yukina or Genkai!"

When Kurama ran in, Botan spared a thought of thanks that Fay still had the towel draped around her body.

"What happened?" he asked taking Fay from her as she reached the steps leading up. "I think she stayed in a little too long. I did warn her. Oh, is she breathing?"

Kurama leaned closer to Fay, the worry in his face relaxing the slightest when he made out her chest rising and falling and the air coming from her nose. "Yes, she is."

"Is someone attacking? I didn't sense anything." Rinku came to a sudden halt at the scene, causing Jin to stumble over him, while Kuronue just barely managed to jump over the two and land on his feet.

Kurama looked from them to Fay and turned his body to block their view. "A towel, Botan. And all of you,' he glanced over his shoulder at them. "Go get Yukina."

"I'll just stay here." Rinku said getting to his feet with a glare for Jin.

"No way pal, ye're coming with me." Jin hauled the struggling Rinku back with him, stopping only to give a narrowed eye look at Kuronue. "Aren't ye coming with us?"

Kuronue met Kurama's gaze and while the two seemed to silently communicate, Botan ran to fetch a towel. Finally Kuronue turned away. "Apparently I am."

No sooner had they left, then Fay began to stir, her eyes opening and locking onto Kurama's. He smiled in relief. "You had me worried; it seems I'll have to keep a closer eye on you, Fay."

Feeling confused, Fay wondered why he was holding her, not that she minded, and why she felt like she had a fever. Unfortunately for her, she soon remembered and realized she still had that clingy towel on. She gave an embarrassed shriek, the first of her life, and tried to back pedal away. Her sudden movement caused Kurama to lose his balance and the startled duo ended up plunging back into the hot spring.

"I brought several towels and..." Botan's words dwindled off. "Did…I miss anything?"

"I think they fell in." Yukina pointed out.

'Yeah but how, I doubt Kurama's that clumsy.' Which meant that Fay had somehow managed that little bit.

"I'm sorry!" Fay apologized to Kurama, submerging herself in an effort to hide her blush.

Hopefully, since she already had the coloring of a tomato, it wouldn't be too obvious. "That wasn't supposed to happen,' she quickly explained, trying to keep the panic from her voice. "And I wasn't supposed to faint in some stupid puddle of hot water." He probably thought she was total klutz by now! "I swear I've never fainted in my life before! And I've never been this clumsy! And…and…" she trailed off when Kurama's suppressed laughter spilled out.

Fay stared, but the laughter was contagious and she soon found herself laughing along, though why she wasn't exactly sure.

When he finally managed to control his laughter, Kurama waded through the water to her. "You're laughing. I'm relieved, this means you're well." He placed a hand on her forehead, which of course made her temperature rise.

"We should get out; I wouldn't want you catching a cold." When she only sunk deeper into the water he tilted his head in question. "Is something wrong, Fay?"

She gave a nod.

"Uh…if you two are finished, I think it'd be best for you to wait outside while we get Fay out of there, Kurama. We brought some warm clothes along as well," Botan said.

Kurama turned back to Fay, a blush lightly tainting his cheeks. "Yes, of course. In the meantime, I'll go change as well."

He climbed out of the hot spring, sliding the door closed behind him.

"Ready to come out of there now, Fay?" Botan asked, holding out a towel.

Fay nodded, finally climbing out of the hot spring and discarding the wet towel for the dry one.

"Stop with that smile, Botan!" Fay burst out when Botan kept giving her that look.

"What do you mean? I can't be happy for two friends, which I may add, I just happen to have helped enter into a happy romantic relationship?" she finished in a self satisfied, dreamy tone.

Fay took another towel and draped it over her head. She was still feeling slightly dizzy from the heat, but nothing like before, if the embarrassment didn't finish her off of course. It was that word Botan used…romantic.

While Fay did know she loved Kurama, it had never occurred to her to even think about it in that light. But now that it had been shoved in her face…Botan was right, she was in one of those re…re…situations.

The type she'd always gagged at when they were mentioned or her sisters or friends entered into them, and she had to put up with all that huggy-kissy stuff. Fay had always wished they'd go stuff it down someone else's throat cause the whole thing was just way to mushy and complicated for her.

Fay was selfish enough to know that she wouldn't put up with any guy's annoying habits just because one of them had used the L word. To her way of thinking, a re…one of those situations was kinda like stepping into quicksand of your volition; It was stupid, hard to move in, and you were lucky if you got out.

Her legs felt weak, so Fay dropped to her knees, the towel still over her head. "I…really am in one, aren't I?" her words came out half realization, half panic. 'There are so many people who would love to know about this.' It was a good thing all of them were in a different world.

"Hold on!" Botan snatched the towel from her head, making Fay look up at her. "Don't tell me you're developing commitment issues,' she pointed her forefinger down at Fay. "Because I worked too hard on this project…err…I mean, on your happiness for you to get cold feet now!"

"I'm sure that's not it Botan." Yukina said her tone calm.

"That's right." Fay snatched the towel back from Botan and stood. "Just because I don't like the label doesn't mean I'm going to give up Kurama, no way!" she draped the towel over her hair and dried it.

"Well that's good to know. Come on, let's get inside." Botan walked over to the door, sliding it open to check that the door on the other side was closed before motioning to Yukina and Fay to follow.

"Here are your clothes, Fay." Yukina held them out. Fay closed the door behind her and took the bundle, thanking Yukina.

"You should thank me you know," Botan said smugly. "I managed to find you a pair of pant pajamas, and really cute ones."

Fay unfolded the pants and sweat dropped. "Did you have to find one that's so…girly?"

The pajamas where white with pink duckies on them. It was enough to make her want to gag.

"Well I think they're cute. If we ever get the chance, introduce me to your aunt. I'd just love to see what other types of clothes she makes."

"I'll do that." Fay replied wryly. She was pretty sure her aunt would love Botan. She finished putting on her clothes and the three girls left, heading for their room.

"I hope you don't mind having to share a room with Botan and me. The boys took up most of the other rooms." Yukina said.

"No, I don't mind. " Fay responded struggling to weave the rose back into her hair. 'How did Kurama manage this so quickly?'

"Here I'll do that." Botan took the rose from her and wove it back in, surprised when it took hold quickly. 'Must be one of Kurama's tricks.' She'd noticed that the rose hadn't wilted at all either.

Botan had just stepped back to Fay's side when they saw Yusuke coming towards them.

"Hey, Fay. I heard you almost drowned in the hot spring."

"I did not!" Fay denied heatedly. "I just got a little dizzy."

"Right," Yusuke drawled handing over the paper in his hand. "Here."

"What's this supposed to be?" She asked.

"Well, I decided we did really need to take out that insurance on you,' he pointed at several spots on the paper. "All you have to do is sign here, here and here."

Fay's eye twitched and her body tensed in annoyance as she read it. "Get that toothy grin of your face, Yusuke! I'd never do something stupid like admit you're the coolest ever!"

He laughed stepping back. "So you'll only admit it to yourself in private?"

"No way you conceited jerk!" she tore the paper to pieces and threw it at him, but he was already backing down the corridor.

"Come back here, Yusuke! I'll make you pay for that!" Fay shouted taking off after him. "I am not a disaster waiting to happen every time I open my eyes!"

He laughed back at her. "I know some people who would say otherwise!"

"Get back here! I swear when I catch you I'll do what Kuwabara's failed at doing so far! Make you cry to your mommy!"

"Hey!" A door burst open and Kuwabara stomped out, glaring at Fay as she ran past. "Come up with your own catch phrase, that one's mine! And I'll have you know I've been taking it easy on Urameshi!"

"Ha!" Both Yusuke and Fay shouted back at him, irking Kuwabara into running after them.

"Denial's a river in Egypt, Kuwabara!" Fay called back, causing Yusuke to burst out laughing.

"That goes for you too, Fay!"

"What is that supposed to mean? Hey, get back here you!" Both Kuwabara shouted at the same time Yusuke spoke.

"No way," Fay decided to answer Yusuke. "I definitely know a way to make you cry! So stop and face it like a man!"

"Oh, and risk you accidentally tripping over me and bringing down the roof too?"

"What's going on here?" Jin opened his door in time to see three whizzing figures run by.

"No time to explain, but this time I'm definitely making Urameshi eat dirt!" Kuwabara called over his shoulder.

"Eat dirt?" Jin tilted his head in puzzlement. "Hold it! If ye're talking 'bout beating Yusuke, it's me that'll be doing that!" Without wasting time Jin took off down the corridor after the trio.

Two more doors slid open at his words. "No way, mate! That honor's reserved for me!" Chu shouted.

"Only if you catch him first!" Rinku said running past Chu.

"Come back here you drongo!" Chu took off down the corridor after the others.

The next door that opened revealed an irritated Suzuka. "Will all of you stop it with that noise? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep!"

Fay was about to run past him when she suddenly jumped back, much like a startled cat. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

She hit the opposite wall just as Kuwabara passed by, tears of laughter streaming down his face. "Nice mask, Suzuka, what is it made of, cake mix?"

Suzuka bristled. "It takes a lot of work to keep up such a beautiful face, you know!" he shouted affronted. "And you!" he turned to Fay who was snorting with laughter despite the hands over her mouth.

"What was that stupid joke supposed to mean?"

Fay shook her head and took off after Kuwabara. "Go read Cosmo Girl; I'm sure you'll love the article about this winter's best make up tricks!"

"Get back here! Are you trying to insinuate something?" he shouted running after her.

"Only that you'll love the spring catalog, darling," She drawled.

Behind him Suzuka could hear Jin, Chu, and Rinku laughing.

"Wait until I get my hands on you!" he threatened, fist in the air.

Another door slid open, revealing an irritated Shishi. "Why exactly is everyone stomping around like that?" No one stopped long enough to answer him.

"Well, this looks like fun." Shizuru said dryly. She and Keiko had walked out to see what was going on, while Koto and Juri looked on from their doorway. "What does a girl have to do around here to get some sleep?" Koto asked annoyed.

"Yeah, bad guys could show up at any minute you know. I'd like to have at least slept a little before then," Juri put in.

"It's not like it's my fault, it's those guys who're chasing me!" Yusuke said as he passed.

"Puu!" Puu jumped out of Keiko's arms and flew after Yusuke, making happy sounds.

Another door slowly opened, this one two doors down and across from Juri and Koto.

Black hair unbound, hat missing, and black shirt almost entirely unbuttoned, Kuronue leaned against the door frame and peered out. "Not that I mind the sound of raucous laughter, but is this going to go on any longer?"

"Oh, wow." Juri sighted, taking in the bat demon's dishevel look.

'Put him in a fight and I'm all eyes.' Koto thought dreamily.

'He's got a bright future as a model, if he ever decides to become one.' Shizuru thought covertly glancing at Kuronue.

"Cover up will you!" Yusuke stopped long enough to shove Kuronue back into his room and slam the door. "Or at least put on a sweater if you're gonna come out! The rest of us would prefer not being blinded!" He'd also noticed Keiko peering at Kuronue. About the only girl not ogling in one way or another was Fay, but she wasn't too hard to figure out.

"I've got you, Urameshi!" Kuwabara launched himself at Yusuke, who dodged and headed down the corridor. "In your dreams, Kuwabara."

"Coming through, Kuwabara." Fay really did try jumping over him, but she miscalculated and ended up stepping on his head on her way. "Oops, sorry!" she apologized.

"I'm not a stupid stepping stone you know-"

"Then get out of the way!" Suzuka said, stomping over Kuwabara.

"Aye, that'd be best." Jin was the only one who managed to jump over him, the others behind him simply followed Suzuka's example.

"That's it! I'm gonna get you all for this!" Kuwabara shouted jumping to his feet and heading after them.

"Enough with the ruckus, all of you!"

Yusuke tried to stop as Genkai stepped in front of him, didn't quite manage it and stumbled, hitting the floor when Genkai stepped to the side.

Unable to stop her momentum, Fay would have met the same fate, if a door hadn't suddenly opened and she'd been snatched out of the way, so instead Suzuka slammed into Yusuke as he was getting to his feet, Jin plowed into them closely followed by Chu, Rinku, and finally Kuwabara.

"Get your asses of me!" Yusuke shouted, struggling to move out from underneath. "And Suzuka, stop that stuff on your face from dripping on me!"

This was met with laughter, at least from those not tangled on the ground.

"None of you understand the concept of beauty!" Suzuka snapped sounding put out.

"No, I just don't understand the concept of sissiness!" Yusuke retorted, finally managing to free himself.

"Could yah bludgers wait till I'm outta here to argue!" Chu practically threw off Rinku and Kuwabara to get himself up.

"Right, well I'd be wanting to get up, so could you stop using me as the floor then, Chu?" Jin complained.

"And me while you're at it!" Suzuka grumbled, half his mask on the floor.

"Oh, sorry mates." Chu stepped off them, the two scrambling to get up and away from the other quickly.

Yusuke and Kuwabara turned to glare at Fay who was safely in Kurama's arms. "That's cheating; you were supposed to be in that pile up too!"

"Ha!" Fay replied smugly. "It serves you right for handing me those dopey 'life insurance' papers."

Kurama coughed suspiciously. "Like insurance?" he asked.

Kuwabara burst out laughing. "You really did that? You should have told me Urameshi, I would have loved to see it."

Having been watching from a safe distance, Touya finally approached them. "It does sound like a good idea…considering."

"How could you, Touya!" Fay turned large eyes on him. "It's not my fault gravity likes seeing me fall!" At least Touya had the decency to turn away and try to hide his laughter, not that it did him much good but everyone else, especially Kuwabara and Yusuke, didn't really bother.

"If all of you are done acting like fools, maybe we could get some quiet around here." Standing furthest from the group, Hiei glared. "I'm surprised all your noise didn't attract the factions' attention." Although his tone was irritated, there was a smirk on his lips. "Of course,' he turned to leave. "We could always show them Suzuka, it might scare them away."

"Go, Hiei!" Fay cheered.

Suzuka glared after him. "You're all philistines!" he turned a glare on everyone else then stomped to his room, snapping the door shut.

"Enough fun, boys and girls. Get to sleep before the sun rises," Genkai ordered.

"Fine, fine, we're going." Yusuke set his arms behind his head and headed for his room. "See you guys in the morning, provided no one comes calling."

"Let's hope not." Kuwabara muttered heading for his own room.

"I'll be seeing ye, tomorrow Fay. Don't ye go chasing Yusuke without me." Jin said with a grin.

"I'll keep it in mind." She said.

'Now that that's over.' Shizuru headed back to her room, Keiko following after once she'd gathered Puu into her arms. "Night."

Everyone else began dispersing, heading back to their rooms, and although Fay expected Kurama to set her down, instead he walked towards her room. "I can walk, Kurama. My ankle's fine now."

"Yes, I did notice." He answered.

They passed by Kuronue who leaned against his door way much like before.

"Night Kuronue." Fay said. "Yusuke's right you know, you should cover up, we don't want you getting a cold."

He sweat dropped while Kurama turned away, biting his lip.

"I'll keep that in mind." Kuronue replied wryly. "Night." He stepped into the darkness of his room, sliding the door closed silently.

"Do you think it's hard for him to be out in daylight?" Fay asked Kurama. "I mean, isn't he a bat demon?"

"Only lower class bat demons have that restriction," Kurama explained. "Kuronue is of a higher class, so whether its day or night matters little to him, though I do believe he prefers the night."

"Oh…well that's good to know." Fay murmured. "Hold on…classes?"

Kurama shook his head. "It would take too long to explain at the moment. Once we have more time, perhaps."

The door to her room was open though Botan and Yukina were suspiciously absent.

Kurama set her down on the tatami bed. "As Yusuke said, provided nothing happens tonight, I'll see you in the morning." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, to her surprise, and stood. "Good night, Fay."

"Night." She sighted dreamily, shook her head and tried sounding normal. "Night, Kurama."

Once he left Botan and Yukina entered, Botan with a self satisfied smile on her face. "You're welcome by the way."

Fay decided silence was the best answer; as it were Botan had probably been spying on them…again.

The other two girls readied themselves for bed and after saying their good nights, Botan turned off the light. Soon the girls were asleep, and silence fell over the temple.

_Next Chapter Preview_

_"They're all gone!"_

_"I have nothing to do with it anymore!"_

_"No one has seen a girl of her description."_

_"...the one with delusions of dancing whales."_


	39. Chapter 39: Taken

CHAPTER 38: Taken

Around 1: 30 in the morning, rain began pattering down from the sky, growing colder as time went by so that snow began to fall on the silent grounds. Trees swayed in the blowing wind, the sounds eclipsing the much softer sound of something small rolling across the floor within the temple.

Shizuru woke with a start, sweat rolling down her forehead. 'Just a dream.' A dream filled with images she'd rather forget but couldn't put from her mind. She looked over at Keiko, slowly relaxing when she saw her and Puu sleeping peacefully. 'I need a smoke.'

She flipped back the covers, about to get up when her hand landed atop something round. 'What?' Shizuru picked up the object, bringing it closer to her. 'A marble? What's it doing here?' And why did she have such a bad feeling about it.

Keiko stirred, a hand slipping from beneath her blanket and onto the wooden floor...right atop another marble.

Shizuru's eyes widened and she rushed to get it away, she never made it.

* * *

Koto's ears twitched at the soft sound and she blinked cyan-green eyes open. "What is that?" she mumbled sleepily. A small bright ball rolled across the floor from the darkness, and without really thinking, Koto reached out and trapped it in her hand, picking it up and smelling it.

"Hey Koto, is this yours?"

Koto sat up, gazing over at Juri who yawned and held out a green marble.

Koto herself yawned, shaking her head. "No, I don't know where they came from."

"They?"

Koto held up her own black marble. "See, I have thi-" It was all she managed to say before the room grew silent once more.

* * *

The red marble fell from above, tapping Yukina on the forehead so that she woke, catching it as it rolled down. 'Strange, where did this come from?' She looked over at Botan and Fay, but neither was awake. She was about to put the marble down when she glimpsed the slightest glint of light before another marble tapped Botan on the head.

The girl grumbled and turned to the side, the marble to rolling down and making a tapping sound as it hit the wooden floor.

'Maybe I shouldn't bother her.' But it just seemed so strange to Yukina that marbles would fall from the ceiling. She looked up. 'Maybe there's a hole up there somewhere and…they're falling from the ceiling.' It seemed highly unlikely though.

When she saw the light of a third marble, Yukina threw back her covers and stood. 'I'll just ask everyone about them tomorrow.'

Botan woke as Yukina knelt near her. "Is everything alright, Yukina?" she asked stifling a yawn.

Yukina turned to her with an apologetic smile. "Yes, it's just that this fell from the ceiling and I thought I'd pick them up." Yukina picked up the violet marble and showed it to Botan. "It fell on your forehead, didn't you feel it?"

Wiping tears of sleep from the corners of her eyes, Botan stretched out a hand.

Yukina placed the marble on her palm and Botan brought it closer to inspect. "From where in the ceiling would this fall?"

Yukina shook her head. "I don't know, but I saw another one near Fay."

Botan wasn't spiritually aware like Shizuru and Kuwabara, but this was starting to give her a bad feeling.

She tossed back her covers and stood. "Where?"

Yukina stepped closer to Fay, squinting to see better in the darkness. "There."

The golden marble had stopped its progress across the floor at Fay's elbow.

Botan quietly stepped closer, leaning down to gather the marble when Yukina's surprised gasp stopped her. "Yukina?" Botan looked back at her, but the girl was gone. 'Oh no!' she turned back, only to have the marble she held drop to the floor when she disappeared.

Fay bolted awake, her eyes wide with shock. She'd been slowly waking when Botan had called Yukina's name, but Botan disappearing right in front of her fully woke her. "Botan! Yukina!" She scrambled out of bed, her right hand landing on something round in the process. She picked it up, knowing by the feel what it was. 'What's a marble-'

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard Kuwabara's loud scream.

"Shizuru! Yukina!"

'Shizuru too?' Fay felt herself grow cold. Had they been kidnapped because of her?

The sound of footsteps reached her and she headed for the door. She was inches from opening it when the golden marble hit the floor and disappeared along with the other marbles, leaving no trace of any of the girls behind.

* * *

Kuwabara woke from a nightmare, bolting out of bed and slamming his door open. He ran to his sister's room only to have his fears confirmed. "She's gone! Keiko's gone too!" Puu flew out of the room, his voice raised in panic.

Other doors had opened while he'd checked on his sister. Hiei had run to open another, eyes widening in disbelief. "They're all gone!"

Kurama peered in behind him while further down, Chu opened the last room door.

"Koto and Juri aren't here either!" Rinku exclaimed.

"So where the hell did they go!" Yusuke shouted in anger. "We didn't sense anyone!" He turned to Kuwabara. "Can you hear any music?"

"What's music got to do with the sheilas' disappearing?" Chu asked.

"Don't you remember?" Touya asked. "Fay told us about a small Magus girl who could hypnotize with her music."

"Oh, right." Like everyone else he focused on Kuwabara. "Any music, mate?"

Genkai joined them catching Puu in the process. As if knowing they needed silence, Puu subsided as Kuwabara closed his eyes, trying his best to concentrate. Finally he shook his head. "No. Whoever took them, it wasn't Mjrn."

"Dammit! Then who the hell did!" Yusuke barely restrained himself from punching a hole in the wall. "They took them right from under our stupid noses and none of us caught even a hint of their energy! All we had as warning was Kuwabara's too late feeling!"

Kuwabara clenched his teeth, his hands in fists. "Sorry guys, if I'd just woken a little sooner."

"Standing around will accomplish nothing, whoever took them can't have gone too far," Kuronue said.

"Aye, he's right. If we go after them now-"

"It will do us little good." Kurama replied grimly. "These beings we deal with use magic, as well as portals. No, going after them will not give us the desired result."

"Calm down, all of you." Genkai said evenly. "Shouting, and blaming ourselves won't bring them back, what we need now is a plan. First off we need-"

"I know exactly what we need." Hiei interrupted her, looking just as angry as Yusuke and Kurama felt. "Mary Anne!" he shouted in a commanding voice.

'That' right!' Yusuke thought. 'She might know who's behind this, or we can always drag it out of her.' This time he wasn't playing the nice guy.

"I take it that was supposed to accomplish something?' Shishi asked when seconds ticked by and nothing happened.

"Maybe she didn't hear Hiei; heck I don't think she even likes him. Mary Anne!" Kuwabara shouted.

Genkai sighted inwardly. 'Dimwits.' "If you're done being idiots, then listen." Genkai interrupted before Chu and Rinku, who looked as if they were about to try, could give it a go.

"Not just anyone can call on the Guardian of Mid- Earth. In the former Guardian's time, I was one of the few chosen to be able to do so. However this is a different Guardian, and while I doubt Mary Anne bestowed that honor on Yusuke, Fay seems to have passed that ability to him."

That took him by surprise. "Why would she do that? Not that I'm not grateful and all but…never mind, that's not important." He took a deep breath and gave it a try. "Mary Anne! Get down here now before I drag you back myself!"

Dressed in faded blue jeans, black sneakers, and a dark blue cardigan sweater over a light pink long sleeved shirt, she appeared in the middle of the hall between the boys, a coffee mug cradled in her hands. "Oh look,' she drawled sarcastically, glancing at the new additions. "You multiplied." Woho, not.

"I don't suppose anyone cares to explain why I was dragged from a long awaited overnight camping trip at half moon bay's beach, with my friends, to this world…again." She took a sip of the hot liquid inside her mug and waited, not that she had to wait long.

"We don't have time for your sarcasm!" Hiei snapped impatiently. "One of the factions has kidnapped m…the girls, take us to them now!"

Mary Anne tilted her head in his direction, her gaze glittering in warning.

Kuwabara shivered. 'Did the room just get a whole lot colder or is it my pajamas?'

"Care to repeat that a little more coherently Hiei?" Mary Anne asked mildly.

"It's just as Hiei said." Kurama spoke up instead. "Someone kidnapped all the girls, not just Fay. We know it must be someone from the factions, yet we are unable to tell who it is. We did not even sense their presence." He admitted in frustration.

"That's right! I thought only Mjrn could do that!" Yusuke said.

'She's smaller than Hiei.' Touya thought studying the Guardian. 'Yet there's something dangerous about her, something chilling…dark, if not evil.' He glanced at Genkai. He could tell that she knew, yet she didn't say anything to try to curve the others words, to make them more polite, at least those but Kurama. He couldn't help wonder why. He turned back to the conversation. 'Maybe it doesn't matter.' In an odd way, she seemed to like the group…or so he hoped.

'Strewth! This Sheila's got more power hidden than Urameshi.' Chu had sensed it just for a second, when she'd appeared. 'So, this is Mary Anne.' He could only imagine what a brawl with her would be like.

Curious, Rinku had stepped closer to inspect Mary Anne, but as soon as the mug in her hands shattered, he stepped back in surprise. He wasn't the only one; the others looked on with varying expressions of surprise as the liquid mixed with blood and streamed down her hand from the cuts she'd inflicted by holding the pieces too tightly.

"Mjrn puts up battle fields that can't be sensed. She may be good at disguising her energy but you can sense her if you're careful about it." She explained softly, heatedly.

"But you're telling me that some moron with a death wish, knowingly and explicitly broke the rules of this war!"

"Calm yourself, this temple has stood for a very long time. I don't want it brought down because you had a tantrum," Genkai said calmly.

Eyes flashing, Mary Anne whirled to face Genkai, words perched on her lips but at Genkai's stern look, Mary Anne hesitated, stood still for a few seconds and finally calmed down.

"Let's just say I like the rules, they're there for a reason." She shook out her injured hand, letting go of the pieces she still held.

"Ye're going to help us then, right?" Jin asked.

Mary Anne glanced at him and shrugged. "I don't know who took them and where, but I do know who might know." She looked around at the others. "Everyone else planning on going in their jammies?"

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right out!" Kuwabara ran back into his room, others following his example.

"I take it you'll actually be helping us this time around?" Hiei asked in a disinterested tone. "Or was the blood just for show?"

Mary Anne muttered a few words, passing her left hand over her injured right one. The blood and liquid disappeared, the cuts healed up and the mug was back in her hand, although empty.

"As much as I'd like to tear the heads off whatever faction did this, I can't go that far without being given the authority…at least when I'm not in a temper. Since Genkai took care of that, I'm going to have to play nice and ask permission, as much as I dislike the idea."

Hiei smirked. "It seems we might not be that different after all."

Mary Anne chuckled darkly. "I wouldn't know. You're the first who tried to bully me and lived to tell about it. I much rather deal with annoyances quickly. By-"

"Cutting off their heads." Hiei finished for her.

Her lips curled into a half smirk. "Yeah, that."

Maybe that's why they didn't like each other; both would prefer to take off the other's head.

"I'm ready, let's get going!" Rinku ran out of his room, back in his usual clothes. "So where exactly are we going?" he asked Mary Anne.

The small guardian turned to him, frowning. "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry. My name's Rinku, I'm a Yoyo Master and one of Fay's best protectors. This one just caught me off guard. It's not going to happen again."

"I see…" They were taking along a kid who liked to use his yoyos as battle tools? 'He doesn't look much older than my brother...then again, there is Mjrn.'

"If you're worrying, don't." Mary Anne turned to another of the new additions to the group. A short blue-green haired demon. "Rinku can take of himself, and his appearance is deceiving."

Rinku grinned. "That's right. I beat Kuwabara without even trying."

"That's not true, you little punk!" Dressed, Kuwabara ran out, glaring down at Rinku. "That was cheating! If you hadn't used your yoyo trick I would have taken you down!"

"Like I haven't heard that before." Rinku retorted rolling his eyes.

"I wouldn't go around bragging about it,' Mary Anne drawled. "Beating Kuwabara isn't much of an accomplishment."

Rinku burst out laughing while Kuwabara turned his glare on her. "You're lucky you're a girl you know!"

Mary Anne waved his words away. "Alright, children. All of you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go kick the bad guy's ass!" Yusuke said slapping a fist against his palm.

"Then hang on to your lunches boys. I hear this is a rough ride for first timers." As she spoke a large golden circle inscribed with runes flared up beneath them, large flowing words filling the inside. Mary Anne spoke a word that thundered around them, and the temple filled with silence.

* * *

'That was such a boring movie, I almost fell asleep.' Isis stuffed popcorn into her mouth as she exited the theater. 'Not bad.' She was of course, referring to the movie. While most people liked movies whose plot line kept them entertained, Isis preferred the type of movie that was so uninteresting; she could just fall asleep and have a nice long nap. Strange? Perhaps. A waste of money? Definitely, but someone had to do it. And this was exactly the type of stuff she liked to do when not looking for dancing whales or dolphins.

'Now all I have to do is wait till tomorrow and I'm off to San Francisco.'

This time she would see a dancing whale, or dolphin, either suited her as long as she saw one.

Isis yawned as she came to a stop at the light and waited for her turn. 'I'm tired now.' Sure she'd been half asleep in the movie theater but half asleep didn't count as fully asleep.

The light turned and she walked across, heading down the walkway instead of waiting for the train as she usually would.

Isis disliked when people forced her into proving a point, and that's exactly what her mother had done when she'd tried talking her into trying to capture Fay again with her last Elemental.

Isis had put her foot down, and had then been forced to prove a point, so she'd moved out of the family home and into a town home her father had left for her in his will. At least there no one could bug her about the future of the Magus Faction resting on her shoulders.

As some guy or other, whose name she didn't know, had once said; some heroes are born, others are made…and two out of five of those heroes decide that hell no, they were not putting their butt on the line for people they didn't even know, turned tail and ran. Yup, that was her. And she was damned proud of it!

As far as Isis was concerned, it was the only way to stay sane in her world.

She turned a corner, unworried by the fact that she'd taken a street with little light, and not many or any, people that she could see. 'This popcorn's not very buttery.' She stopped by a garbage can and dropped it in. 'Guess I'll just make my own when I get home.' Which begged the question, why had she even bothered to buy it after the movie had finished? Isis thought on that for about five seconds before shrugging it away as unimportant. She was about to resume her walk home when a voice reached her ears.

"We have business to attend too."

Isis screeched, jumping away and hitting the wall of the large building behind her.

"Man, you have feet and shoes on. Use them to make noise!" Then the sound of the voice hit her. She would have climbed the wall if she could have. "You! I have nothing to do with it anymore! I quit that stupid war so shoo, go away and bother someone else." She made a shooing gesture with her hands.

He stepped into the flare of the streetlight above him, causing Isis to narrow her eyes. "Hold on…you're not him…so who are you?"

He wore an unbuttoned leather trench coat that reached to his feet, a silver chain with some kind of pearl hung around his neck and beneath it he wore a black sleeveless shirt, leather pants, and a silver belt around his hips. His feet were clad in black trekking boots, a surprise since Isis expected leather boots to finish the whole biker look…or the Matrix look, whichever he was going for.

This guy was a little taller, had wider shoulders, and definitely more muscle on him than the little…Hiei had, or maybe he just had a heavier built. Although his eyes were a dark violet, his hair was the mirror image of Hiei's, and he had a scar that ran across his nose, left cheek and down to just below his ear. Both his hands were hidden within black gloves that had some type of weird writing that didn't exactly look like either runes or glyphs to Isis.

"Never mind, I can take a guess. You're either an uncle or his father."

Dark violet eyes narrowed, just like Hiei's did. "What I am is none of your business. All you have to know is that I'm here to collect."

"Hey, Firez might have roughed up Hiei a bit, but he did not cause enough damage for dear ole papa to come and- shutting up." She finished quickly when he took a threatening step forward.

"That's not why I'm here. Hopefully your brain is working tonight so try to keep up."

If she were the type of person to get angry easily, and had the energy for it, she would be thinking of unleashing her last Elemental on him. Luckily for him, all Isis wanted right now was a triple scoop ice-cream and about fifty miles between them.

"In your last and only battle with the Urameshi team, one of your Elementals caused Fay damage."

"And then they destroyed my Elementals. I think that's...' Isis hesitated. "Okay, that's not a good trade. So, you're here cause you decided I needed to pay Fay back somehow. Check or credit card?"

If his expression was any indication, which she was pretty sure it was, he was disgusted with her. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes." He turned away heading across the street, obviously expecting Isis to follow.

'Why am I being punished like this?' she thought almost in tears. 'All I want is to go home and stuff myself with Ice-cream. Is that so much to ask?' Apparently it was. Shoulders sagging, Isis followed.

"So what do you want me to do then?" she asked trying to sound pitiful, and therefore useless.

"The Demon faction has kidnapped not only Fay, but six other girls. All of them none fighters. You're coming with me to rescue them."

Woah! Hold it right there!" Isis came to a screeching halt. "Have you any idea how completely psycho that faction is? I mean, have you ever seen an American Psycho? Well these guys make that look like Me, Myself, and Irene!"

He turned to look back at her. "I know what they're capable off."

"Then why the hell would you want to storm their freaken fortress of psycholoon?" She shook her head vehemently. "I am so not going. I've heard horror stories of what guards their fortress. It's a horror movie waiting to happen and there's no way in hell I am setting foot in that place, even if you knew where it was, which I doubt you do cause not even the Guardian knows where it is. Especially not when I only have one Elemental at my command thanks to sonny boy and his band of nosy men!"

"Are you done whining?" he asked, voice full of disdain.

"Not if you keep saying that I have to go with you!" she snapped.

He threw something small her way and Isis barely managed to catch it. 'What the…' her eyes grew wide once she realized what he'd given her.

"Where did you get this? I mean this is like seriously valuable, not to mention rare."

What Isis had caught was known to her people as a Stone of Renewal. It had many magical properties, and could be used in all types of magic. To her in particular, it meant that she could recall her Elementals without having to wait for months for them to reacquire new forms.

"Where I got it from is none of your business. What matters is that you can use it to call your Elementals. The stone is yours to keep, if you stop whining and follow."

Isis stood still in the middle of the road looking torn. On one hand, a Stone of Renewal, hell yeah! On the other…most likely certain death and having to exert energy and very likely lots of it, on rescuing a girl she had never really gotten along with to begin.

'Why do I have to get stuck with these types of decisions?' she thought miserably.

"I'm not waiting all night for you to make up your mind." he spoke patiently but there was an undertone that warned her she better give him the answer he wanted. Which, of course, she did.

"Okay, okay. Keep your pants on, I'm coming." She hurried after him, expecting him to take this at a walk, or at least she'd been hoping for it, instead he started running.

'I already hate this.' Isis gave a martyred sigh and picked up her pace.

* * *

"Obviously you don't know squat about acting!" The long auburn haired girl shouted into the building she had just exited, turned and stalked off. 'Stupid acting agency!' she tore the paper in her hands to pieces and threw it in a garbage as she passed. 'They'll be sorry when I make it big!' Fuming she stomped down the lit street. At the corner, her shoulders slumped and she sighted in disappointment.

"I take it they weren't pleased with your performance." Nina looked up at her companion.

He was about six feet ten inches, had a neatly trimmed beard that matched the combed red hair on his head held back by a leather strip. His clothing consisted of a dark brown tunic, and trousers that had leather strips wound around the legs in a crisscross pattern up to the knees, primitive looking leather shoes, and a rough woolen cloak held at the front by an intricate pin. Over his tunic he wore a chainmail jacket while on his head he wore a very old looking helmet. Around his waist was a thick rough leather belt from which hung a large double sided axe and a sword.

Why the couple that passed by didn't give him a strange look, or simply stopped and stared? Besides it being Downtown, and who was to judge here? He was also a 9th Century Viking ghost.

According to what Gunnarr had told her, he'd surrendered himself to the enemy when they'd promised to let his men go. Then while he lay dying they'd killed them, not that his men hadn't fought back.

Gunnarr had sworn not to enter the halls of Valhalla until he had avenged his fallen comrades. Too bad for him that not long after that his enemies had drowned in an ocean crossing, so Gunnarr had found himself earth bound. Unable to carry out his oath, he had wondered the world for centuries, until she'd noticed him. It was one of the curses that came with being a Shaman.

"You know they weren't." Nina grumbled sullenly. The light turned and she started across.

"And I take it you'll keep trying."

"Of course I will!" Nina replied firmly. "You know what Iliana said; I'm destined to be an actress!" Iliana being her second ghost companion, an18th Century Spanish actress who had been betrayed by her lover and left to die.

"I hate to say this...no, I do not; Iliana is a bit vain and is most likely trying to live through you."

Nina snorted. "Oh la, you don't understand."

He didn't point out that she had just said a very Iliana thing.

"What I need is someone who actually knows talent when they see it." She gave an exaggerated sigh and stopped. "Or at least something to do with my time. I don't see why my friends had to go off and do stuff without me! I mean, we're best friends! I'm entitled to have my share of their time during the summer!"

"Stop being so dramatic." Gunnarr said. "Hadyn will be back soon with information on that friend of yours, Fay. As for Madeline...you know why she's not here."

"Yeah, yeah." Nina waved it aside. She did know why Madeline wasn't there, but she wouldn't accept another kidnapping of Fay! That girl had too many I.O.U's on her plate already, how dare she be kidnapped by her grandmother, who Nina personally thought was somehow involved with one mafia or another, again!

She could always go see what Isis was up too but knowing her, Nina doubted she was up to anything more than wondering if there's a reason she should get out of bed before three on a summer day. So here she was, alone, discarded by her only friends...and alone.

'She's making that face again.' Gunnarr thought. That 'woo is me' face that she gave her parents whenever something was not going her way.

"I'm back." Out of the shadows stepped out a man of mid height who could blend into a Men In Black set. He had the suit, the hat, the glasses, and the shoes, although instead of black his hair was a light brown. He was Hadyn, her third ghost partner. He had lived in the mid 19th century and had been a spy for the U.S, until his partner had double crossed him and he'd ended up dead.

Sometimes, Nina wondered if she should worry about the fact that all her ghost partners had been in some form betrayed…but she doubted it.

"So, give up the goods, Hadyn. Where exactly is Fay's grandmother keeping her?" Once she found out, she could just sneak over to England, steal her friend back and they could go have some well deserved fun. Nina could then make Madeline jealous by showing her pictures of their awesome summer.

"Your friend is hard to miss,' Hadyn said in his low whispery voice. "I consulted with many ghosts in England. No one has seen a girl of her description."

"La! That's impossible! One of her brothers told me she was in England, and Isis said she'd seen Fay when she'd gone there herself!"

Hadyn shook his head. "Then she's lying. As for her brother, maybe he doesn't know where she is exactly. I could always go check Italy if you want. Her father's family comes from there after all."

Nina grumbled sullenly. "So what, is there like some kind of big conspiracy that I don't know about! I demand to know!" She turned back to Hadyn. "Yeah, go check Italy. Leave no stone unturned-"

"Oh La! You will not believe what I have just witnessed." A voice said in a thick Spanish accent. Unlike Gunnarr, this particular ghost had not yet mastered speaking English without the accent, or at least with only a faint trace of one.

The trio turned as Iliana glided towards them. She had dusky skin, large almond shaped eyes of black, long wavy brown hair that cascaded down past her waist, and wore a long dark blue evening dress with a low back, a slit down the left side of the dress, and matching high heel shoes. In her hand she held an intricate ladies fan that, of course, had to match her clothes that day.

Nina cursed the day Iliana had learned that she could change the appearance of her clothes. She was also incredibly grateful that no one could line them up and compare, because Nina would feel like the ugly duckling…without the swan future.

Nina herself had fair skin that burned if she stayed out too long in the sun, long straight auburn hair and light green eyes. Not exactly exotic by her standards.

"Want to tell us what's making you look like the cat with the cream?" Hadyn asked.

"Of course I will, but first,' Iliana looked down at Nina. "Well, how did it go?"

Nina grimaced. "You don't want to know."

"Oh la,' Iliana waved a dismissive hand. "Those people, they do not know true talent. You are meant for the stage, querida, not some unknown little job as a Shaman."

Nina smiled. "Thanks, now what do you want to tell us, cause we need to start making new plans."

"Ah yes!" Iliana smiled smugly. "I was out enjoying the night, making my way to you, when what shall I come upon but that girl, the one with delusions of dancing whales,' she searched for the name.

"Isis." Nina provided.

"Yes, her. She is a strange one but then again...anyway, I heard her give quite a shout, so ducked back into darkness. But it was not because of me she screamed. Of course no one would scream at such an honor as gazing upon my beauty."

The trio rolled their eyes at her words.

"A little faster, Iliana." Gunnarr prompted.

"Hush you barbarian, a lady speaks." Iliana fanned herself, not that she could feel it, before continuing. "So there I was, watching as a short man, quite a rude one as well, demanded some kind of payment from Isis. I did hear Isis speak of your friend's name, Fay," She told Nina. "And that someone had caused damage of one kind or another to her. Then,' she paused for effect. "The little rude man, he says; she has been kidnapped by Demon faction along with six other girls! And she is to come to help him free them with Elementals! Then off they go into the night!" she waved her fan forward to illustrate.

Nina wasn't stupid; she knew that Isis was a Magus but…but… "Someone kidnapped Fay?"

Iliana nodded.

"That's not possible! Why would anyone want to kidnap Fay? Besides her grandmother."

Nina started pacing, biting her lip in thought. She knew about the Demon faction too, they were total loons of the worse kind.

It was one of the reasons she'd always tried to stop Fay from hanging out so much with Dante, but compared to what she'd heard about the rest of the Demons, he was almost normal. Coming to a decision, Nina turned to Hadyn. "New mission; you and Iliana go tail them, don't let them out of your sights! Get what information you can and report to me no sooner than tomorrow seven in the morning, got it?"

Iliana nodded. "Of course. This should be most exiting, I have never been sent to spy before. Come,' she gestured grandly to Hadyn. "We go."

She glided down the street soon disappearing.

"I don't need her you know." Hadyn said feeling a little insulted.

"She's the one that knows which way they went and time is of the essence," Nina explained. "I know you could do this on your own but the point is that they're getting away." She gestured almost wildly. "So hurry up, you can tell her to stay somewhere at a corner as look out or something."

Hadyn grinned, tilting his hat a little more to the left. "Good idea, I'll see you two later." He headed back into the darker shadows and disappeared.

"This should be good." Gunnarr said amused. "Let's make a bet; if they don't kill each other, again, by tomorrow, we go to that wrestling match in two days."

Nina snorted. "No way, you'll want to possess me again and I do not want to be asked how I managed to bring down a man three times my size and weight. I am not Isis, Madeline or Fay. I do not want to end up on camera again." Especially for that!

He chuckled, following her as she headed home. "It was only once, and that man needed to know what a true warrior fights like."

"Which I'm not!" she flung over her shoulder at him. "Thanks to you I'm now known as the girl with the hidden muscles! The boys' wrestling team tried to recruit me."

He threw his head back and laughed, as if it was something to laugh about. Deciding to ignore him, Nina headed home to wait for Hadyn and Iliana's report.

* * *

"Fay, Fay wake up!" Shizuru's words penetrated her sluggish brain, and Fay finally managed to get her eyes open, then sit up after a few more tries. "What...what happened?" she asked, wondering why she felt as if she'd been drugged with too many sleeping pills.

"We've been kidnapped! That's what happened!" Koto grabbed the bars of her prison and shook them. "And they stuck us in here as if we were birds! I'd like to know what part of me looks to them like feathers!"

"I don't wanna be kidnapped; I was having such a nice dream too!" Juri sniffed as she tapped gently at the bars.

Fay struggled to concentrate on her surroundings. They were inside a large dimly lit room, imprisoned inside what looked like oversized bird cages.

She rubbed a hand over her face, trying to wake herself up. "I don't understand. Why would they kidnap all of you too?"

"To use us as leverage against you." Shizuru said grimly. "Why else."

"Then we have to get out of here,' Keiko said trying to get the cage door open. "We can't let them use us against Fay."

"That's easier said than done. We've been trying to get out of here for the last,' Botan grunted as she tried to pull the door open by force, Yukina doing her best to help, "Hour without any success!" Her fingers slipped and she thumped back onto the ground, causing the cage to swing. The two girls stilled until the swinging diminished.

"I doubt these cages are the ordinary kind." Shizuru said rubbing her temple.

"Are you alright, Shizuru?" Keiko asked noticing the movement.

Shizuru nodded. "I'm fine, it's just this place. There's something really wrong about it and my senses keep warning me. It's like having a car alarm going on inside my head."

'Glad I'm not in her shoes.' Koto thought. That being said, she'd be even happier if she wasn't stuck in some bird cage.

"I guess we'll just have to hang on until the boys come and rescue us." Botan sighted. "I just hope they don't take their time."

Fay tried to listen to the girls speaking, but her eyes kept closing and she still felt sluggish. The fourth time this happened she tried to catch herself only to have her arm give out from under her and her head hit the bottom of the cage.

"Are you okay, Fay?" Keiko asked.

Fay struggled to her knees, swiping hair out of face. "Yeah, I'm just feeling really...really..." She trailed off, her memory fogging over for a moment. 'What am I doing?'

"Fay, look at me!"

She lifted her head and looked over at the taller girl, if she'd been able, Fay would have panicked that for a second she couldn't remember her name. "Shizuru, you're Shizuru."

The brown hair girl nodded, her gaze worried. "I thought there might be something even stranger about your cage."

"You mean besides the silver color?" Keiko asked, inspecting the cage Fay was trapped in.

"Yeah, I get a cold feeling from it, but not in the normal sense. It's...' Shizuru narrowed her eyes trying to concentrate. "It's like…a cold blooded creature, and it's trying to suck the warmth out of Fay. Don't!" She shouted when Fay closed her eyes.

She snapped her eyes open and rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm trying to stay awake, but it's getting harder."

"Then concentrate on our voices…we'll…uhhh…" Botan fetched around for an idea. "Ask you questions. We'll ask you questions and you answer them."

Fay nodded. "Okay, I'll try my best."

"What's the last thing you remember, before waking up here?" Yukina volunteered.

Trying to keep her eyes open, Fay thought back and answered.

AN: R&R, till next chapter^^

Next Chapter Preview

"She was here, but now she's over there."

"Just look at my new birdie, she's so pretty!"

"…maybe these are the vampires…"

"...your friends shall end up in our stomachs…"


	40. Chapter 40: Search and Escape

Chapter 39: Search and Escape

Although most of them didn't want to admit it, Mary Anne had been right; it had been a rough ride. Not in the sense of a roller-coaster, or even a car going over bumpy terrain. No, it had felt more like being tossed about while on a ship that was getting the same treatment from the sea, and then shaken not stirred.

Kuwabara, Chu, Rinku, and Suzuka had to hurry away to the nearest trees to empty out the contents of their stomachs.

The others fared a little better, though Puu's eyes looked like swirls and his small tongue hung out. Yusuke managed to just barely keep it down, while the others stayed very, very still.

"Was this truly necessary?" Kurama asked.

"It was the fastest way to get here." Mary Anne said trying to keep a straight face. True she could have simply brought up a portal...but this was more fun.

They'd appeared at one of the entrances to the college campus, and although at this time of night there was no one around, Mary Anne remembered to place up a small, don't look here, spell to keep anyone who happened to pass by from noticing them.

"Please tell me we're not going to do that going back; I don't think my stomach can handle it." Kuwabara grumbled as he rejoined them.

"Yeah, Chu might be used to throwing up but I'm not." Too bad there wasn't a source of water nearby, cause Rinku really, really wanted to wash his mouth out.

"You guys can complain later, we need to find the girls now." Yusuke reminded them once he no longer felt as if he'd throw up if he so much as twitched.

"For once Yusuke's right." Genkai said. "We have more important business to attend too," she turned to Mary Anne. "Where to now?"

Mary Anne gestured for them to follow and led them off campus grounds, across the street and to a building housing different small shops, where she stopped in front of a used bookshop.

"Exactly what are we going to find here?" Hiei asked impatiently.

Instead of answering Mary Anne opened the door, the small bell at the top ringing.

A figure stepped out from the backroom, a frown marring his face when he caught sight of Mary Anne. He closed the thick book in his hand and regarded her companions.

"I take it there's a reason why all these outworlders are here?" Merlin asked.

"One of the factions has broken the rules and kidnapped five other girls along with The Ri…' she glanced at those with her and changed her words. "Fay."

His frown deepened, becoming worried. "That is indeed troubling news." It also explained the talk he'd had with a certain person a few hours ago. 'Out of all the factions, I would have preferred if this one had not gained access to her.'

"We're told that you may know who took the girls. If you do, we would appreciate your cooperation," Genkai said.

"And I would give it, if I did know where that certain lair was located."

"Ye don't know where they've taken the lasses?" Jin asked in dismay.

Merlin shook his head. "If you had asked me first, I would have said that our Guardian here knew." Demanding gazes turned her way.

"We don't have time to play your games; if you do know where they are you had better start talking." Hiei snapped angrily, his right hand going to the hilt of his katana.

"Calm down, Hiei." Kurama cautioned. "Had she known, I am certain Mary Anne would have told us. After all, why go through all this trouble when it could have been avoided." He turned to Merlin. "You said if you knew where they were, does this mean you know who took them?"

"Yes I do, but you will not like the answer."

"Well don't keep us in suspense dammit!" Yusuke complained loudly. "Once we know who took them, we'll know whose ass we have to kick."

'Interesting way of putting it.' Merlin mused. "I was informed not that long ago that it was the Demon Faction who took them and as we know,' he stared at Mary Anne past half lowered lids. "That is not a good thing."

"I remember Fay talking about them." Kuwabara said. "She mentioned some guy…nick...ni…Nikias, that's it."

"Then why don't we just find this Nikias guy and make him tell us where they took the girls?" Rinku asked.

Mary Anne snorted. "Obviously you guys don't know what these Demons are like. They may act 'normal' but to them normality is…well, what we would call insanity. As for their lair; I really don't know where it is. Had I known I would have wiped them out sometime ago." At Merlin's look she shrugged. "You know they're twisted…I mean even more twisted than I am. I tried tailing that boy, Dante, a few times but he would take a turn and simply disappear." It galled that she'd lost him so many times, but it hadn't stopped her from trying.

"I should have seen that." Yusuke said grimly. "We already knew he wasn't in his right mind and the images he popped into my head were,' he placed a hand to the side of his head. "Ugly." He was distracted enough that he didn't notice when Puu landed on top of his head.

"Then it's even more imperative that we find them quickly. Hiei,' Kurama turned to him. "Why not try using your Jagan eye to locate one of the girls; perhaps you may have some success in finding their location now that we know who has them."

Hiei was already heading back out, having taken the bandanna of his forehead. The group followed him out, waiting while he jumped to the top of the building and opened his third eye.

'Let's hope their way works.' Mary Anne thought. If it did, she could simply place a tracking spell on the group while she reported in and got permission to wipe this Faction of the face of her planet once and for all.

"Anything Hiei?" Kuwabara shouted up at him.

"I'm concentrating you fool, so keep your mouth shut," was the reply.

'He's really got it coming to him!' Kuwabara grumbled silently. Once the girls were safe, he was taking that shrimp down a peg or two.

Minutes passed by without a word from him. Suzuka couldn't help but think that he knew what the answer would be. 'Let's hope I'm wrong, if he can't find them…' Well, if they really were in a different world it would take them forever to find the right location. He doubted the enemy would wait that long to use Fay's power.

Tired of waiting, Jin flew up to join Hiei. "Found any trace of them, then?"

Reluctantly Hiei shook his head. "No, wherever they are their presence is being hidden from me." He replied angrily, most of that anger directed at himself.

It was Tarukane all over again. His sister had been taken to where he couldn't find her, and it wasn't just Yukina this time, it was Fay and the rest of the girls. And just like last time, he couldn't do anything about it because, even with the Jagan eye, he lacked the power!

He jumped off the building while Jin flew back down.

"Nothing," He admitted.

"There has to be a way to find them,' Kuronue insisted. "Nothing is so hidden that it can't be found." He and Kurama had learned that over the years they'd spend as thieves.

They began discussing ways of locating the girls, discarding one idea after another, but Kuwabara knew that whatever they ended up doing it would take time, time they didn't have. 'They took my sister and Yukina! They took all the girls and we can't do anything about it because they're hiding like cowards!' If they'd just show themselves like real men, he'd beat the snot out of them.

The cement wall cracked when Yusuke drove a fist into it. "There has to be a way! I refuse to believe that we can't find them because of some stupid black spell!"

"There are many ways,' Merlin replied calmly. "However they will take time. One of them is to call Serenesiel and have her scry for the location." She would have to use a spell to get from Rome to California, but Merlin believed this was a priority…even if her scrying would also take time, especially with such powerful wards hiding the demons from their eyes.

"If this will take the less time then please call her," Touya requested. "We've wasted enough time as it is."

Merlin nodded and reached for the door when Kuwabara's surprised shout grabbed their attention.

It had begun as a prickle at the back of his neck, so Kuwabara had reached back and scratched it, then it had turned into a whisper, so he'd thought it had been the wind and paid little attention to it, but then it had turned into an annoyed slap upside his head, and he shouted in surprise, jumping away. "Okay who did that!"

"Did what?" Shishi asked.

"Someone hit me on the head!" The problem was that there was no one behind him.

"Not going bonkers on us are yah, mate?" Chu asked.

"What? No, I'm not!" Kuwabara narrowed his eyes looking one way then the other. "I know what I felt, but it kinda felt like…like…" He trailed off when his gaze came to rest on the figure.

She was on the other side of the road, dressed in a simple white dress, but even from this distance Kuwabara recognized her. He grinned. "Fay!"

"Where?" Kurama started after Kuwabara when he ran across the street, quickly followed by the others, but once on the other side Kuwabara came to a stop. "Hold on, where did she go?"

"He really has gone insane." Rinku said looking up at Kuwabara.

"I told you I didn't! I know what I saw, and it was definitely Fay…" he trailed off when he caught sight of her further down. 'Hold on…it looks like her but…'

"I told you there was a ghost Fay!" he turned a smug smile on Hiei, then looked at the others as he pointed down the street. "I wasn't the only one who saw her last time, Shizuru saw her too and…you guys really can't see her can you?"

"No, but considering your heightened spirit awareness, it doesn't surprise me." Genkai told him. "Tell me, does this Fay look-alike keep moving away?"

"Yeah,' Kuwabara responded. "She was here, but now she's over there."

"She can't be Fay,' Yusuke insisted. "Not…not unless…"

"They've killed her." Kurama replied, his tone grim and disbelieving.

"That can't be right!" Jin protested. "Fay survived a whole fall from high up; you can't be telling me that some bad guy took her out like that!"

'If they did, they've signed their own death warrants.' Hiei wouldn't stop until all of them were dead, he doubted Kurama would either.

"That can't be true! You guys stay here, I'll see if I can talk to her on my own." Kuwabara raced down the street, coming to a stop near the ghostly figure.

She smiled as he approached but didn't otherwise move.

"Are you…' Kuwabara leaned in closer. "Are you really Fay?"

"Yes," She responded.

He stepped back at the response. "That's not possible!' Kuwabara protested. "You can't be her! I just saw her not that long ago! She can't be dead-" He turned away his eyes suspiciously over bright. How was he supposed to tell the others, and how could it add up with the last time he'd seen this ghost Fay! Besides she was a little taller than the girl he knew, as if she were a few years older. 'So there has to be a mistake!'

"I am sorry; I did not make myself very clear did I?"

Kuwabara turned back to her; he couldn't bring himself to call her Fay, and waited.

"I am her, and yet I am not. You see, I am made of the memories she had of ages past. At the beginning, I should have joined with her completely so that we could become a true full being but when I touched her soul, I realized that for all the power Fay held within her, her soul was that of a human's. Such a frail soul could never face the memories stored inside me. So I did not merge with her. In which case you may call me Fayre."

Kuwabara didn't really get it but..."So the Fay I know is fine, right?"

Fayre hesitated then gave a nod. "For the moment."

"What do you mean for the moment? Is something bad happening to her? What about the rest of the girls?" It finally occurred to him. "Can you take us to where they are?"

When she nodded, Kuwabara grinned. "Stay right there, I'll be right back, okay."

He turned and headed back to the group.

"It's not her, but it is…it's weird,' Kuwabara informed them. "The important thing is she says Fay's fine…err for now, and that she can lead us to the girls!"

'This is really weird.' Yusuke thought, but if it meant getting to the girls he wasn't about to complain. "Okay, then tell her to lead you, we'll follow."

"Don't suppose yah asked her how far this place is?" Chu asked Kuwabara, who paused at that thought, then turned away heading back down the street.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." He called over his shoulder.

'How lucky am I, I get to hang out with a bunch of weirdos instead of enjoying the beach.' Mary Anne let out a sigh. "In which case I have someone to report too."

"Hold on, you're leaving?" Yusuke turned to Mary Anne as she headed away from them. "Like I said, I need to report and if you lot have failed to get rid of the Demon Faction by the time I get back, I'll be picking up your slack."

"Ha! By the time you come back all you'll find is a graveyard," Suzuka smirked.

"I'll believe it when I see it." She tossed over her shoulder.

"If you're leaving then how exactly are we suppose to get to their location? " Hiei demanded. "I doubt it'll be in this neighborhood."

"I may not be able to accompany you, but I can make sure all of you make it there." Merlin assured them.

'At least that's one problem taken care of,' Kuronue thought.

"I'm back!" Kuwabara came to a stop near Merlin. "She gave me some numbers for you; she says you'll know the location by them."

Merlin reached into a pocket of his sweater and pulled out a silver compass. It had the usual letters representing the directions, however in between them strange words flashed by, disappearing and giving way to others.

"What would those numbers be?" Merlin asked.

"Okay…let me see if I remember right…" Hoping he didn't forget any of the numbers, Kuwabara told them to Merlin, who tapped first at one word, a number, then another word.

"Then this is why we were unable to find them." Merlin shook his head. They should have thought of it before, it was one of the points.

"How's that going to help us get to the girls?" Rinku asked stepping closer to try to see what the wizard was doing.

"This is how it helps you." Merlin muttered a few words under his breath and brought the compass forward, the small hands in it flashing. Before the compass the air stirred, the space before it becoming distorted.

"It will not leave you right at their doorstep, but you should be within their barrier walls." Merlin assured them.

"Thanks, old man." Yusuke said running at the distortion, Puu still on his head.

"Show some respect for your elders, Yusuke!" Genkai snapped, following after him. The two simply disappeared once they came in contact with the distortion.

"What about her?" Kurama gazed down the street, to where Kuwabara had kept running too.

"She's gone." Kuwabara informed him. "She says she can't get too close to her other self or she runs the risk of merging with Fay. According to her it wouldn't be a good thing."

"I...see."

"Come on, mate." Chu slung an arm around Kurama's shoulders and turned him to the distortion. "The sooner we move, the sooner you can be with your sheila."

Kurama smiled. "Yes, I believe you're right." They were the last through, leaving only Merlin standing in the dimly lit street. He tapped a button at the top of the compass and the distortion disappeared. 'It seems Mary Anne trusts you to do as you must, thus I must do the same.' He headed back to his shop.

* * *

"Okay, what's the color of my nails today?" Juri asked.

"How is she supposed to answer that when even I haven't noticed it?" Botan's tone was incredulous.

"Hey, I work hard on my nails, you know." Juri defended herself." Besides, it just means that she'll really have to concentrate on remembering."

Botan opened her mouth to respond, then closed it when the sound of a door opening somewhere in the darkness reached them.

'Let's see what the meanies that kidnapped us look like.' Botan watched as a figure stepped into the light. 'A child?'

The white hair-winged girl that stepped into the light was not what Botan expected, but she supposed it should have crossed her mind.

'Someone else is here with her.' Shizuru couldn't see them but she knew they were standing there, outside the dim light. However, her senses were telling her it was the little horned girl that was the greater threat. 'Little bro, you and the others better get here soon.'

The child giggled as she skipped over to the silver cage that held Fay. "Oh brother! Thank you ever so much! Just look at my new birdie, she's so pretty!" She giggled once more and twirled around.

"Please let us go, we haven't done anything to you," Yukina pleaded.

The girl went on as if no one had spoken. "With her, we can finally return home and I can take the throne back once more." She turned to look at the darkness. "Isn't that right brother?"

Whoever she was calling brother must've made some gesture to agree with her, because the girl turned back with a happy smile. She stepped closer to Fay's cage, standing on her toes to look inside. "Brother, what's wrong with my birdie? She looks so tired."

"Fay's not some bird you can make a pet, and it's that cage that's hurting her." Keiko said trying to gain the girl's attention.

"Oh, that's right. This is dementium." The girl giggled happily. "Once it is done with her, I shall have such wonderful fun creating stories."

Koto shivered, sliding back only to bump against Juri, who hid behind her.

"I don't like that girl." Juri whispered to her. "She's scary."

Koto had to agree, there was just something dark about that kid. 'Isn't this the part where the knight in shining armor shows up? Cause I could really use one right now.'

Unable to do anything but watch, the girls looked on as the child reached into the cage and grabbed a handful of Fay's hair, yanking so that Fay ended up face level with her, her head knocking against the bars.

"Let her go!" Yukina cried at the same time Botan spoke. "How could you do that to her!"

"You have no right to treat Fay that way!" Keiko protested.

Like before, they were ignored by the child who studied her new prize.

"Look brother, her power is so great it spills out to her eyes. It's so sad she can't use it." She gave another giggle. "At least for her."

Then her eyes caught on the rose woven into Fay's hair. She pulled once more on the hair she held, her other hand reaching for the rose.

Emma cried out as the rose suddenly grew four rose vines, one of them striking out at her and slicing clean through her palm to the other side.

"Emma!" A white haired man with two snakes wrapped about his shoulders stepped into the light, a woman in a suit stepped out as well, a sword swinging down to cut the vine in half. Both had horns and wings like the girl.

Koto pressed her hands against her ears, trying to block out the girl's high pitched screeches. She wasn't the only one, behind her Juri did the same, while the other girls tried blocking out the noise as well, noise that suddenly turned into dark crazed laughter.

"Do you see brother; even in a cage my birdie is still very dangerous." Emma laughed loudly as she watched the vines recede until they disappeared into her captive's hair.

Emma's screeching had been enough to fully wake her from her stupor and clear her thinking. Fay scrambled away from the girl, ignoring her pounding head. 'I guess Kurama had another reason to place this in my hair.' That he had thought that far ahead, even if her situation was dire, made her feel happy. Even back then he'd been thinking about her safety.

Emma reached for the vine still stuck through her palm and yanked it out, laughing as blood spurted out. She threw the vine down and stepped on it, smashing it beneath her foot even as she pulled up her bleeding hand and let the black blood drip into her mouth.

'That's just disgusting.' Shizuru thought. It even looked as if Emma were enjoying it. 'To bad her looks don't reflect her personality.' Shivers ran down her spine when the girl then dragged her bloody palm down the side of her right cheek.

"Why is she doing that?" Keiko asked frightened.

"I don't know, but maybe these are the vampires, they're drinking blood after all." Even if it was their own.

Emma once more reached for the bars, looking across the cage at Fay. "That stupid weed on your head will wilt and die sooner or later, but I guess I'll let you keep it until then. Now I want you to play with me, after all you are now my birdie."

Fay shook her head vehemently. "I was never the type to play those kiddy games and I'm not going to start now, so go play with you imaginary friends. I'm sure you'll have no trouble making them." 'Psycho.' She added silently.

Emma frowned and looked up at Attor. "She won't play with me!" letting go of the bars, she stomped her foot. "You said my new birdie would play with me! I want to play with her now!" she demanded pouting.

"I'll take care of it." Attor stepped past his sister, moving around the cage until he was next to Keiko and Shizuru's cage. "I take it you care what happens to these humans?"

He extended an arm and one of the snakes began sliding down it.

Keiko scooted as far back as she could while Shizuru took up a place between her and the snake. 'It so much as pokes its head in here and I'll stomp on it.'

"Don't let them use us against you, Fay. We can take care of ourselves." Shizuru told her.

Golden eyes filled with cold amusement. "Really?" he taunted.

"You can't!" Yukina cried out, tears threatening to spill out.

Botan placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have to be careful, Yukina," she whispered. "We don't know what they would do if they found out about your tears."

Yukina swallowed and nodded, blinking her tears back.

"Okay, okay! I'll play with her, just leave them alone!" Fay shouted, panic in her voice. They were her friends; she couldn't let any of them get hurt.

The snake retreated back up Attor's arm, hissing at her. "Do as we command and your friends shall live."

"Disobey us,' the second snake spoke, the voice female. "And your friends shall end up in our stomachs, one by one, by one." She gave a hissed out laugh.

Emma clapped, blood spattering onto her dark dress and arms. "That's why you brought all the other birdies. How very clever brother." She turned to the darkness behind her. "Dante, why don't you give my birdie a hand out of that cage. I know you're friends with her."

He stepped forward, looking as Fay remembered him, except for the added horns and wings on his back.

'You were right Hiei,' Fay thought. 'He's no longer my friend…he never was.'

At Attor's gesture, Fay crawled forward on her hands and knees towards the cage door, while Dante opened it. He reached inside and picked her up, setting her down on the floor.

"Those pajamas are so pretty," Emma said. "But I think my new birdie should be dressed in something much, much prettier. Come on, I'll show you my playroom. We can pick out something for you there." She turned and skipped into the darkness, followed by the silent woman.

"How can you betray her like that when she's been your friends for so long!" Botan demanded.

Dante turned to look at her. "I already left a message with Yusuke, that should be enough." He grabbed hold of Fay's arm and pulled her after him into the darkness.

"Until later, ladies." Attor said moving into the darkness as well.

"You're not going to get away with this!" Shizuru shouted after him. They heard a door closing and silence fell around them once more.

"What do we do now?" Juri sniffed.

"We find a way out of here." Shizuru rose to her knees and kicked out with her right leg. "Just open up!" She really wished she had shoes on, it might not have done much good but her kick would have had more force to it.

"Shizuru, I don't think that's going to work." Keiko said, even as she tried pulling at the cage door.

"I guess all we can do is wait for the boys to rescue us." Botan heaved a solemn sigh and leaned back against the bars. "I just hope they don't try to make Fay give them her power anytime soon."

"To hell with that, I'm not waiting around like some damsel in distress in need of rescuing," Shizuru retorted.

"Easy enough to say, but we're still stuck in this stupid cages," Koto grumbled.

"Umm...maybe we need to try something else that isn't kicking at it." Juri suggested quietly. Koto turned to her. "Like what exactly?"

Juri shrugged. "I'm not sure, but force isn't doing us much good."

'She may have a point there,' Botan thought.

"Oh!" Yukina exclaimed. "Of course, why didn't I think of it before."

"Think of what?" Botan asked.

"Can you make room for me, Botan?" Yukina asked as she crept forward.

"Sure." Botan sidled to the place Yukina had occupied, leaving the shorter girl with the space near the cage door.

"It's going to get a little cold in here, Botan. Brace yourself." Yukina warned her.

Botan nodded. "Don't worry about me, just try your best."

"I will." Yukina turned to the door, placing both her hands near the lock. Her eyes began to glow as she called on her power while behind her, despite the warning, Botan shivered as the cold hit her. 'Note to self, sleep in warmer clothes next time.'

The girls watched with bathed breath as Yukina concentrated, the minutes ticking by. Finally there was a small 'click' and the sound of something falling. Botan threw herself forward, sticking her hand out the bars and catching the small icy lock before it could clatter to the ground and make noise. The cage door silently swung open.

"Bingo!" Botan grinned, sitting up.

"Nice thinking, Yukina!" Shizuru praised.

Yukina smiled. "It was Juri who gave me the idea." She turned to the water demon in the other cage. "Thank you."

"Oh…no problem." Juri smiled and looked up at Koto. "See, I contributed to the escape plan," she said proudly.

"I guess even you have your moments." Koto quipped to which Juri glared, until she noticed Botan climbing out of the cage.

"Anything scary down there?" Koto asked her.

Botan gingerly took a few steps forward, then to the side. "I don't think so, the floor's cold but that's it." She held out a hand to help Yukina out of the cage.

"Please get us out of here next; I don't know how much longer I can stand being in this crowded space!" Juri pleaded.

"Okay, hold on." Yukina and Botan cautiously approached them, but when nothing jumped out to attack, they hurried over.

"Stand as far back as you can." Heeding Yukina's words, Juri and Koto crawled back, wrapping their arms around themselves when the cold hit them.

Like before the lock broke, Botan catching it before it hit the ground. Yukina swung the door open, and while the two demon girls hurried out, moved to the cage that held Shizuru and Keiko.

"What are we going to do if there's a guard outside the door?" Keiko asked, then looked around. "Wherever the door is." She was pretty sure this room was large, but only their little space had a small amount of light.

Shizuru cracked her knuckles. "You just leave that to me."

Soon they too were climbing out of the cage and Shizuru took the lead. "Keiko, Yukina, stand at the back. We'll take care of anything that shows its ugly face."

"Hold on, I'm not a fighter you know," Koto protested.

"Neither am I," Juri added.

"You may not be fighters but remember what Genkai said, now that your power's been awakened it'll show up when you really need it. I think this qualifies as needing it."

'I really hope she was right,' Koto thought. She had too many plans and fights to witness, that she wouldn't be involved in, to end up dead.

Using her instincts, Shizuru managed to lead them to the door. It was locked but Yukina quickly took care of that.

"See anyone out there?" Botan whispered when Shizuru peeked out.

"No, but it's pretty damn dark. How can these...whatever they are, walk around in the dark without bumping into everything?"

"Maybe they have really good eyesight," Keiko suggested. "I mean, they aren't human after all."

"No, they're monsters," Shizuru said. She stepped out, motioning for the rest of the girls to follow, then remembered they couldn't see and tugged at Botan's sleeve. "Let's go. Just stay close behind me and keep a hold of each other's hands. Getting out of here isn't going to be easy; we don't want to make it harder by loosing each other."

"Right." Botan tightened her grip on Koto's hand while Koto kept a hold of Juri, and Juri held on to Yukina, Yukina holding tight to Keiko.

"We're ready, let's go," Botan informed her. "We may not be able to rescue Fay on our own, but we can lead the boys here. They'll take care of these kidnappers."

The group of girls began to move down the corridor, although Shizuru could only guess that it was one. With how dark it was, she couldn't even see inches in front of her. 'I really hope my senses don't start failing me now.' She kept leading them, going only by her instinct, until that instinct suddenly made her feel cold, and from behind Koto spoke up.

"Not to distract you or anything, but I think something creepy's following us. My ears are picking up some weird kind of scraping. Kinda like...claws."

"Yeah, I feel it too." Shizuru pulled at Botan's hand. "Get Yukina and Keiko to the middle." The girls slowly complied, going by feel, until Botan was holding Yukina's hand.

"Now what?" Juri asked her tone quivering. "I think it's getting closer."

"Botan, Yukina; try to put up a barrier around us," Shizuru said.

All of them could hear it now, the slow unsettling scrape of claws on the cold ground beneath their feet.

"Anytime now." Koto cried, holding on tightly to Juri who did the same.

It was dim, but the light coming off Yukina and Botan's barrier was enough to show what had been stalking them.

Keiko gave a frightened cry, not that she was the only one, and stepped closer to Shizuru. "What...what is that?"

The creature looked like a large hairless cat with grey skin; its ears were over large, its glowing eyes a sickly yellow, and it stood on hind legs, legs that ended in feet more suited for a bald eagle than a cat, while its front legs ended not in paws but in large crocodile feet that had the look of being sown on, the large messy stitches showing on the mismatched flesh. It was a few inches taller than Koto, but the body rippled with visible muscle.

"Oh please, don't let it get me!" Juri cried tightening her hold on Koto.

The creature hissed, its ears pulling back and stretching over its cranium, and launched itself at them.

* * *

AN: Someone asked that I try to post a little sooner, and although I can't always do it, I'll try not to let it linger too long.

Thanks for the reviews. Till the next chapter. ^^

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_I warned you this place was freaky."_

"_Fifteen seconds…"_

_Don't you like my dollies?"_

"_You kill her and you'll regret it, Nikias!"_


	41. Chapter 41: The Demon Faction

Chapter 40: The Demon Faction

The creature struck the barrier and bounced back, inside Koto and Juri screamed.

"Quiet you two, we don't want anyone else finding out we escaped." Botan said sternly even as her own voice wobbled.

"We won't be able to keep this barrier up forever." Yukina winced as the creature hit the barrier again. "We need to do something."

"Juri, you're up." Shizuru said. "Use your water to…uh…drown it."

"Are you crazy! I can't do that, it'll get me and I don't wanna die!" Juri cried.

"Don't look at me, I don't wanna die either." Koto said trying her best to keep her legs from crumbling from under her.

"Damn it! Get a hold of yourselves,' Shizuru bit out. "We need to work together if we want to get out of this place alive!"

The creature launched itself once again, this time the girls could see the barrier beginning to weaken.

"I…' Juri swallowed visibly, standing from where she'd fallen. "I'll try, but in case I die, please make sure no cute boys see me unless I look pretty."

Trembling she took a step forward, bringing up her hands. "Okay…' her voice wobbled. "Okay, powers you can work anytime now." Nothing happened. 'I really am going to die!' Juri silently wailed.

The creature hit the barrier once more and broke through. "Noo!" Juri yelled, bringing her hands further up. This time the creature slammed against a wall of water and slid down, slipping on the water that dripped to the ground.

"Hey I did it!" Juri exclaimed happily, before realizing that the dim light they'd had had gone out.

"Save it until that thing's not after us anymore," Shizuru warned. "Botan, Yukina put up the barrier again!"

The barrier flickered back to life, Juri realizing she was outside the protective enclosure.

"Juri get back in here!" Koto cried out.

"Coming!" Juri scrambled to her feet and ran towards them.

"Watch out!" Keiko shouted.

Juri looked behind her, her eyes widening in panic when she saw the creature flinging itself at her. "Nooo!" she screamed, and tripping, falling to the ground.

"Juri!" The girls shouted, their eyes wide. They watched with dread as the creature descended, to fast for them to so much as take a step forward, but before it could touch her, a silver chain wrapped around it and dragged it into the darkness.

Juri opened her eyes when the creature didn't try to eat her. Instead she heard the sound of scraping in the darkness, the creature's pain filled scream, then silence.

"Juri, get up and get in here, now!" Koto quietly instructed.

The water demon nodded, quickly standing. She stepped back, her eyes on the darkness in front of her, but when she heard footsteps, Juri whirled around and hurried through the barrier.

"Whose there!" Shizuru demanded.

A flash of light in the darkness answered her before it went out, then reappeared, lighting up more of the corridor and illuminating a man dressed in grey, small curled horns on a head covered by black hair and dark grey wings tucked behind him.

He smiled. "I never foresaw you girls managing to get out of those cages on your own."

Juri and Koto stepped back. "Guys, what do we do now?"

"Can you help us get out of here?" Botan, Juri, Keiko, and Koto turned to Yukina in surprise. She had stepped away from Botan, causing the barrier to falter and fade.

"Yukina what are you doing?" Botan asked, holding on to the girl when she tried stepping forward.

"It's okay guys,' they turned to Shizuru. "He may look like them, but he doesn't feel wrong, like they do."

Botan glanced from the man to Shizuru, then Yukina. "Are both of you sure of that?" she asked, tone hesitant.

"Yeah," Shizuru nodded.

"Can you please help us?" Yukina asked once more.

He nodded, motioning for them to follow him. "Come with me, and stay close."

He didn't have to tell them twice, the girls fell into step beside him as he headed the way they had been taking in the darkness.

"How come you're not like them?" Keiko asked in a whisper.

"Because I'm not insane. I'm sure you noticed it on them," he answered.

"So they're really crazy?" Koto asked.

"Yes. My people aren't born that way but as we age, our horns grow, and that's the root of our insanity, or at least what's inside the horns. My people's insanity began thousands of years ago because of a curse placed on us,' he explained. "However that curse was broken sometime ago…on all but those who fled deep underground when it happened.

"As this group had. That's why they left our world; in their insanity they thought the rest of us crazy. My world's new Queen asked that I join their group in order to keep an eye on them."

"Well, we're glad she decided that too," Botan whispered. Their situation was looking a lot better now.

"What's your name by the way?" Keiko asked.

"Kyro." He answered, then put a finger to his lips, asking for silence. He led them to a door where he knocked softly in a pattern, the door swung silently open.

Like the room they had previously been in, the shadows gave it the appearance of largeness, although they couldn't really make out much.

"Is there a light switch around here?" Juri asked. "I'd really like it if I could see more than what's right in front of me."

"No," Kyro responded. "Even if there were, a light would alert them to your escape. Besides you do not want to see what's in here."

His words sent shivers down the girls' spines, they stepped closer together following him to the far right wall.

There, he left the glove of light floating while he taped at the wall until one of his knocks echoed quietly. "Here we go." Whatever he pushed, the girls couldn't make out, but the wall swung back and to the side, revealing a secret passage.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste." He gestured for them to go first.

"What about Fay? Can you help us rescue her?" Keiko asked.

"I'm sorry, but she'll have to wait until your other friends get here. She'll be with Emma, and trust me when I say that facing her would mean our deaths." Kyro pushed at part of the wall inside the passage, causing the door to close behind them.

"All I can do is get you girls out of here and to safety. I'm sure the rest of your friends will get here soon."

* * *

"Get it, get it, get it!" Isis yelled from her perch atop Ceres's shoulder. Ceres extended an arm, and the torso crawling towards them was pierced by icicles.

"I warned you this place was freaky." She glowered at their guide, who was finishing slicing up three creatures apparently put together from different human and animal parts.

"I heard that a lot of the disappearances in the last ten years were caused by them." Isis swallowed, turning one way then the other. "I guess that rumor was true."

Not only was this place dark, and the fact that it was a full moon didn't help it, but the immense building they were headed for gave her the impression of a mausoleum, a place that she really didn't want to go into.

"Stop whining, you haven't been turned into a zombie yet." Their guide scoffed.

"Speaking of which." Firez launched a fire ball at the three zombie-like creatures quickly crawling towards them on large spider legs.

Their screeches as they were burned to a cinder made Isis wince. 'One hour, and I'm already feeling faint.'

"Let's keep moving." He started forward, only to quickly step back when the ground beneath him moved; thick bones exploding upward, twisting like limbs as the rest of the creature appeared, nothing more than a collection of large decomposing human arms attached to four heads, their mouths replaced by what could have once been the beaks of vultures. The human heads gave out a wail as they raced on arms towards the small group.

"Can I go home now?" Isis cried jumping off Ceres's shoulder to hide behind him. The thing heading their way towered over them, but how it could still be alive…Isis shivered; she did not want to know.

"I suggest you stop acting like a coward and commit to this, or you will end up dead." Their guide, who'd refused to give his name until she'd whined him into defeat, warned her sharply.

'But I really don't want to commit to it.' Isis thought, freezing when Ceres left her to attack the creature along with Firez and Yukio.

'I guess I really don't have much choice, not if I want to get out of here alive.' Isis took a deep breath, calming herself and calling on her third Elemental. The wind stirred around her, signaling Windros's presence around her, before it lashed down to the left where a gorilla's arm had risen.

'Don't think about it, don't think about.' Isis reminded herself. 'Just…' the wind stirred around her once more; warning her. Isis turned to look behind her.

From the misty fog appeared a daunting figure, carrying in its massive left arm what looked like a huge axe.

Isis retreated a step as it headed her way. 'We can do this,' she glanced over at her companions, but they were still busy trying to bring down that thing, from what she could tell, it had begun growing appendages and bones like a plant on fast forward. She quickly turned back; the wind reminding her she wasn't alone.

Isis brought up her right arm, pointed, then lashed her hand to the side. The wind stirred, striking at the figure's left arm as if it were an invisible blade. The arm fell off, Isis clapping her hands over her ears when Mjrn's screams reached her. 'Block it out, it's just a trick.'

Windros's whisper warned her, and Isis staggered to her left just in time to avoid being cut in half by the large figure. 'Ugh.' Not only did it smell bad, animal carcasses were pouring out from the hole her wind had left in the monster's arm.

"Why don't you go back to hell, you stupid horror movie reject!" Isis kicked out with her leg when the creature launched another attack.

With the force of the wind behind her, she hurled it high into the air, then made three quick cutting gestures with her hands.

The wind responded by tearing the monster to pieces before it hit the ground.

By that time Isis was running to catch up with the rest of her companions, who'd finally managed to bring down their own monster.

"Let's go, we've wasted enough time." Yukio grabbed her by the arm and towed her after him, her Elementals behind her. "Not that I mind running for it, but that thing appears to be putting its self back together."

"And we only have two minutes to get across the grounds and inside before it starts up again, only this time much worse," he informed her.

"We do?" Isis sped up, counting the seconds as they ran for what could only be a mausoleum. They reached the door with thirty seconds left.

"Something's happening behind us." Firez informed them.

"Hold it." Isis stopped Yukio before he could touch the door.

"You may not be able to see it, but it's got a death spell on it. If you touch it, you'll be dead within seconds." Isis explained at his glare.

"Then how do you suppose we get inside?" He asked impatiently.

"Fifteen seconds, and it's not looking good," Ceres warned.

"Open the door; Firez, Ceres, Windros." They turned into fire and ice that struck against the door, joined by Windros.

'Ten…' Unable to help herself, Isis turned to look at the grounds, and wished she hadn't. "Open up you stupid door! I don't want to be chopped to pieces by a clown!" she threw her own strength into her Elementals and was rewarded when the doors burst open.

She bolted inside behind Yukio, Firez and Ceres closing the doors behind them.

* * *

Fay silently followed Emma. Not that she had much choice with Dante practically dragging her along, and that silent woman and the other man following as well.

Unlike the rest of them, the girl skipped ahead, talking about her dolls and toys and how much fun they'd have.

"Just wait; it'll be so much fun." They finally came to a double door that the woman walked up to and opened.

The smell made Fay gag and she clapped a hand over her nose and mouth. She'd smelled this before, but it had never been this bad; it was the scent of rotting flesh.

Emma turned to her, a bright smile on her face. "Well come on in, you'll love my dollies, they're all so live-like."

Fay shook her head, stepping back but Dante pushed her forward, and she had no choice but to enter the room.

The large playroom was dimly lit as well, but Fay could make out the pink walls that featured the Disney Princesses. Somehow it made the room feel more twisted.

In the middle of the room was a small white table with chairs, on which three figures dressed in Victorian dresses, sat. One was about the size of a one year old, the second a five year old, and the third that of a ten year old. At first, Fay thought they were dolls, but on closer inspection she realized that they were part of the reason for the smell.

The so called 'dollies' were actual humans, or mummies to be more exact. Their bodies had somehow been preserved to stop the decay, but that didn't stop the smell from filtering out into the room. Those three weren't the only ones in the room; everywhere Fay looked she saw other mummies; little boys, young girls, and even two or three teens. Many of them stood on stiff legs, holding in their arms animals that had once been alive; dogs, cats, rabbits, birds.

Fay shook her head and closed her eyes to block out the scene, reminding herself not to faint. 'I can't let this happen to my friends…I just hope it doesn't happen to me either.'

"You can sit here." Fay turned to Emma, watching as the child walked over to the chair on which the smallest of her 'dolls' sat and picked her up, placing her on the lap of the second oldest. She then dragged the chair closer to her own and patted it. "Come on, we'll have tea and look at this." She skipped further into the darkness then came back with a thick book of ball dress designs.

'I much prefer my aunt's designs.' Fay thought acidly. There was no way she would put on a dress that looked as if it belonged back in the 1800's. In any other situation, Fay would make her stance on that particular subject clear...being stuck in the house of a thousand corpses kinda curved her tongue tough.

Trying to hide her fear, she walked over to the offered chair and sat.

"You can go now brother,' Emma said, turning to Attor. "Thank you so much for my new birdie." She curtsied. "I will take care of her, you'll see."

The tall man nodded and turned to go, motioning for Dante to follow him. The silent woman closed the double doors behind them, taking a stance somewhere in the deeper darkness.

Happily humming under her breath Emma turned back, picking up a fancy tea pot from the table which she tipped over a small china tea cup. The shivers running down Fay's back increased when she realized the so called tea was dark…a little too dark. 'Please, please don't let it be blood.'

Emma put the tea pot down, offering Fay the full tea cup. "Here you go, but wait until the rest of us have one." She went back to serving her so called 'tea' to her dollies. Fay stared at the drink, her gaze slowly moving from it to the dolls. She met the eyes of the oldest doll. She gasped, jumping out of her chair she tried to putting distance between her and...and everything there. "What did you do?" she asked aghast.

Emma stopped serving tea and blinked in innocent puzzlement. "What do you mean? Don't you like my dollies?"

Fay shook her head, trying to shallow her breathing once more so that the smell would be almost bearable. "Their souls…the bodies are dead, even decomposing from the inside, but you trapped their souls inside." The moment she'd met the girl's eyes she'd felt it, as if it had been her who'd gone through the hellish experience. She needed to find a way to get the girls out of here, because Fay had just realized that this is what awaited them. No matter what lies these…these monsters told her, her friends would meet the same fate, and she couldn't let that happen!

"Oh, that." Emma shrugged it away. "It is not a very big deal, birdie. It's just that the dollies wouldn't last very long when hollow from the inside. That's why I decided the souls had to stay, they last so much longer," she giggled. "And they don't become stiff, like corpses." She finished pouring the liquid and once more set the tea pot down, motioned for Fay to join her. "Come on, we can't start the tea party without the honor guest."

Fay stiffly shook her head, her legs threatening to crumble beneath her. No, this is as far as she went. 'Hiei, please, please hear me. You need to get here, now!' Even knowing that it was unlikely he would hear her, she tried.

Emma's eyes narrowed, behind her the woman stepped out of the shadows. "You wouldn't want any of your friends to get hurt would you? If you don't behave nicely, I'll make one of them into my newest dolly. Maybe the one with the fluffy tail…or the one wearing the kimono…"

Fay forced herself forward, picked up the chair, and move back to the table where she sat back down, silently waiting for the girl to finish passing out the tea cups.

Fay managed to stall drinking the dark smelly stuff for thirty five minutes, she'd silently counted, while Emma enthusiastically talked about her home world, something called Orinati stones, and flipped through the pages of the book.

Her luck ran out when Emma glanced up from the book, frowning. "You haven't drunk your tea, birdie. You must drink your tea. Dinner isn't for another hour." She picked up the tea cup and held it out to Fay, who found that her arms wouldn't move until Emma's eyes narrowed in dark warning. She took the tea, reluctantly bringing it to her lips.

The double doors burst open, Attor stepping inside followed by another man.

'Him!' Fay set the tea cup down, glaring at the red headed man in accusation. She remembered him, even if he now had horns that grew upward; it was Nikias, the one who'd stalked her at the beginning.

"Brother! You've interrupted out tea party!" Emma huffed, her lips pulled into a pout.

"I'm sorry Emma, but it'll have to wait. We seem to have surprise guests that have made it past the grounds, and…" he glanced at Fay. "The other birdies have escaped their cages."

'Yes!' Fay let out a silent sigh of relief. If the girls had been rescued, then...she picked up the tea cup and let it drop to the ground, causing the dark liquid to splatter, the cup break. "Oops, I seem to have made a mess." She drawled mockingly. "Oh and just so you know; I hate your tea party, I think you're even more psycho than Dr. Vannacutt, and I'll never hand you my power, no matter what you do. So stuff that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Of course, it was all false bravado on her part. She was scared stiff and wanted to run out screaming from this place, but she'd be damned if she let them know that.

For a moment it seemed as if Emma would throw a tantrum, but she managed to control herself, instead hissing out her words through gritted teeth. "Get this creature back into the cage. I'll deal with her once all her little friends are dead. Maybe I'll hang their heads from pikes around her cage as a reminder."

The snakes on Attor's shoulders hissed in laughter. "And we'll eat their bodies while the heads watch."

Fay lifted her chin a little higher. "You'll fail, like everyone else before you."

Emma finally gave in and shrieked, stomping her foot repeatedly. "Get her out of my sight before I tear her to pieces!"

Nikias stepped forward, grabbed Fay by the arm, and hauling her out of the room. "You should have kept your mouth shut, human."

"You should have kept going, monster!" she snapped back.

His grip turned almost painful, but Fay kept her silence, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her.

There was no light, so Fay was unable to see which way he took her, and although she tried to keep count of the turns, she soon found herself confused. Nikias paused for a moment then continued on. The dim light they stepped into told her they were back in the cage room, and although she tried to free herself, it was of little use. Nikias hauled her into the silver cage, locking the door behind her.

"Don't think you can escape from this cage, Ms. Right. Your friends will die, and you will give us your power, even if we have to rip you open to get it." He stalked into the darkness, the door slamming closed at one point.

Fay wrapped her arms around her knees. 'You'll never get the chance.' She closed her eyes, trying to push away the effects this cage threatened to have on her. 'Yusuke will beat you to a pulp, if Kurama or Hiei don't get to you first.' There was also the chance of Kuwabara slicing him in half, or one of the others pummeling him into oblivion. Fay smiled to herself. 'They will find me, all I have to do is...remember them, just…remember them.' Staying alive would be helpful too.

* * *

"This place really is a graveyard." Yusuke stared at the grounds spread before them. Between them and a large creepy looking building was a graveyard, the type that would definitely fit into a horror movie about zombies and werewolves. It even had the fog and full moon to back it up.

"Guys,' they turned to Kuwabara, who looked even more creeped out than Yusuke felt. "I'm getting a really, really bad feeling about this place."

"So what were the headstones giving you; a warm fuzzy feeling?"

Kuwabara turned a glare on Yusuke. "That's not what I mean! The headstones are creepy enough, heck it all is, but that's not it. There's something evil lurking beneath it. Kinda like a monster just waiting for us to step inside."

"Then all we have to do is kill it." Hiei said as he took the lead. "If we're done standing around, let's go."

"Mate's right, enough yapping, let's get down to the bizz." Chu started after Hiei.

"Yeah, I don't want to be the one to explain to the girls why we were late rescuing them," Rinku added.

They hadn't taken more than a dozen steps when the mist began to part, dozens of mutilated and disfigured creatures stepping out of it, or climbing out from beneath the ground.

"I told you guys." Kuwabara exclaimed, solidifying his spirit sword.

"Hey look, Suzuka,' Yusuke gestured. "Your dead cousin wants a word with you."

"Ha, hah." Suzuka mocked. "I'll take care of these...whatever they are."

"So I'll be taking care of the ones zipping about up there, then." Jin said looking up at the skeletal birds descending on them.

"I'll take care of the ones behind us." Kuronue had turned at the sound of shuffling feet behind them, his blade already swinging dangerously.

"Let's go." Touya brought up his palm, sending ice shards at the creatures.

Kurama reached into his hair and brought out a rose. "Rosewhip!" the vine struck out, slicing the creatures in half, while further ahead Hiei advanced, felling anything that tried to stop him. "You're in my way, so get out of it or die...again!"

Shishi jumped over the headless creature, slicing it in half as he landed behind it. "What exactly are these things?" He covered his mouth as Jin's wind stirred up the air. "And the smell is sickening." That he could identify.

"They appear to once have been humans." Kurama said, striking down three more before running to catch up to Hiei.

"Yeah, but look at them," Kuwabara brought another down, quickly stepping away as an arm protruded from beneath the ground. "Most of them don't have heads, and their arms and legs look like they come from animals. They shouldn't be alive at all."

"Get out of the way, Kuwabara." At Genkai's warning he moved, heading her way.

"Spirit Gun!" The blast incinerated the creatures in the way, clearing a large path. "Come on boys! We don't have time for the small fry!"

"You heard Genkai, Jin you can stop playing with the birds now!" Yusuke shouted up at him.

"Easier said than done, pal! They just keep on coming!" Jin spun both arms in circular motions, the wind picking up around them to form his attack. "Try coming back from this one, Double Tornado Fist!" He struck first with his right hand then his left, clearing the skies of all bone animals. 'Off we go.' He descended as he flew, passing above Rinku seconds before the boy tripped and fell.

"What the-" Rinku looked back at his foot, his eyes widening when he saw the thick red claw wrapped around his foot. "Not that I can't take care of it myself, but a little help would be appreciated!" He shouted, trying to break the hold on his leg.

Chu raced by, leaning down and plucking him off the ground. "You alright, Rinku?"

"Yeah, thanks." Instead of jumping to the ground, Rinku climbed onto Chu's shoulder. "Move faster, we don't want to be left behind."

"Yusuke!" Genkai shouted when a creature of bones, arms, and heads sprang up from out of the ground, towering so high even Jin couldn't avoid it, barely managing to stop himself in time.

"Get out of the way you peacock…thing! Spirit Gun!"

The blast hurled the creature away from them, disintegrating it. Yusuke's attack kept going however, slamming into the front doors of the mausoleum and blasting them open. "And that's how we make our entrance!" Yusuke grinned, running inside after Hiei, and Kurama.

* * *

"Do you see anyone?" Juri asked Kyro as he peeked through the exit out of the passage they'd been taking. "No, come on." He stepped out, making room for them.

"Where do we go from here?" Koto turned one way then the other, but all she could see outside of their small sphere of light, was darkness.

"We're not that far from the front door. As long as you stick to me when we step out, nothing should activate the hellborn spells."

"Hellborn huh, why does that give me the creeps?" Shizuru stepped out third, followed by Keiko, Yukina and Botan.

"It's supposed too." Kyro said quietly. "Come on, we follow this corridor."

"Help!" The group turned around at Botan's shout.

A red headed man had grabbed her from behind, and now had an arm wrapped around her throat.

"Nikias, let her go!" Kyro stepped in between the remaining girls and him.

"I've never considered you foolish, Kyro. So it must be a good amount of bravery that's making you betray us." Nikias tightened his arm around Botan. Her face paled and she swallowed visibly, trying to keep very still.

"Don't Nikias. She has nothing to do with this." Kyro took a cautious step forward. "You know the rules of this war as well as I do; we are not to harm those who cannot defend themselves and take no part in this war. She is protected under those laws."

"I beg to differ,' Nikias said, leaning his chin against the top of Botan's head.

Shizuru opened her mouth to speak, but Kyro gestured for silence with his hand.

"This is war, not a game. In war there is no rule but that the strong survive, and the weak perish. Not only that,' he tilted Botan's chin upward with his free hand. "She's had dealing with The Right, so she is involved in this; anyone who comes in contact with her is involved in this war." Slowly but forcefully he began to move Botan's head to the left. "And I just happen to have permission to break one of these pretty birdies."

"Don't!" Yukina, Shizuru, and Keiko cried out.

Koto and Juri would have made some sound, but Juri's tongue appeared to be stuck to the roof of her mouth. Koto couldn't get her voice to work at all. 'I guess...this is as good a time as any.' Careful not to be noticed, Koto started taking small quiet steps back, out of the light. 'I really hope this works like it's supposed too.'

Juri noticed her friend's retreat but said nothing, instead she quietly stepped into Koto's place. If this place was so dark, it meant that these beings could see in the dark pretty well, hopefully him being distracted and her stepping in front of Koto would be enough.

"You kill her and you'll regret it, Nikias!" Kyro took a threatening step forward, halting when Botan cried out in pain.

"I highly doubt that." Nikias chuckled darkly, roughly jerking Botan's head to the right, though not enough to cause much damage to her.

'He's going to break her neck.' Keiko blinked tears away, taking a step forward. She couldn't let him do that! "Let her go!" she cried out, bringing his attention to her. "I swear if you hurt her anymore I'll never forgive you!"

Nikias laughed. "What makes you think I care about that?"

"Because we'll make you care." The group's attention swiveled to the voice echoing down the corridor. The voice that had spoken was female, and thanks to her fire Elemental, the echoing hall now held a little more light.

'What is she doing here?' Shizuru thought. Botan had told them about this girl, she fit the description perfectly, except that her clothes leaned more towards summer rather than winter. Botan had also said that she was one of the enemy. 'But she's warning Nikias…' Inwardly Shizuru shook her head. If it meant Botan would live, she'd take whatever help came their way. Her gaze fell to the man besides Isis. 'Hiei? No...that isn't him.'

Her train of thought was interrupted when Nikias spoke once more.

"If it isn't a Magus. Tell me, what are you doing here warning me not to kill the little blue bird, when it'll also benefit your faction."

"Because the Magus Faction doesn't take or need help from asylum escapes, and what's more,' even from this far away, Yukina could see the girl's eyes glowing green. "I despise those who soil the earth."

Tree roots exploded from beneath Nikias, grabbing onto his arms and pulling. Even like this he could have killed the blue bird with a word, but before he could speak it, the girl was gone.

"Botan may be annoying but if she's dead, I wouldn't be able to annoy her back." Koto reappeared at the back of the group, setting Botan on her feet beside her.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thank you for saving my life, Koto," Botan said.

"No problem,' Koto gave her a smug smile. "You can pay me back later by telling me your real hair color."

Botan's expression of thanks turned into one of annoyance. 'So much for that.'

"This isn't over!" Nikias freed one arm, tearing at the roots with hands that had grown claws. "None of you will survive this night!" he snarled.

"At least we'll survive longer than you!" Nikias had enough time to look up at the descending figure before his sight split, the sword slicing him down the middle. His world went black.

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_Isn't this just so very touching!"_

"_You, the one who doesn't look insane…"_

"_So where they'd get this freak from?"_

"_Then what do you suppose we do?"_


	42. Chapter 42: Race through the Mausoleum

Chapter 41: Race through the Mausoleum

"Ogre! What's taking so long to put up that cable connection?" Koenma demanded from behind his desk.

"I'm trying, sir, but it's not that easy." George looked from the red cord to the yellow. "The red should go into the white, right?"

"How should I know!" Koenma griped. "Do I look like a cable installer!"

"I'm not the one who lost the directions." George grumbled quietly.

"Did you say something, ogre?" Koenma glowered.

George laughed nervously. "Nothing, sir. Just wondering which one I should connect first."

"That better be it." Koenma leaned back into his chair, impatiently sucking on his pacifier. "If I miss anything of importance, I'll hold you personally responsible. One hundred spankings!"

George quickly matched the plugs, hoping he was doing it right, then looked at the silver wire.

"Ogre!" Came Koenma's impatient warning.

"Almost done, sir." He spotted the connection at the back of the TV, quickly he plugged it in.

"There it is!" Koenma leaned forward, picking up his remote and raising the volume. The picture faded, leaving static behind. "Ogre!"

"One more second, Sir!" George quickly picked up the last wire and connected it, causing the screen to display the picture once more. He stood up as the sound of voices reached him, joining Koenma in front of the screen. "Have we missed something?"

Koenma raised the volume. "We won't know if you keep running your mouth." He better not have missed anything.

* * *

Kyro quickly stepped back, dimming the light so that the girls wouldn't catch sight of the gruesome death.

The shorter man stepped out of the darkness, his bloody sword pointed at Kyro's chest.

"Whoa there,' Kyro stepped back, his hands raised in front of him. "I'm on your side."

The man didn't look convinced.

"He's telling the truth." Yukina stepped forward, catching the man's attention.

He faltered, his eyes warming. "Hina."

"Mother?" Yukina replied in surprise.

"Hey Isis, whose that?" Botan asked the Magus who'd stopped by her side. She was still a little leery of her, but the girl had saved her life.

"Besides a bully? His name is Yukio." Isis explained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I mean, don't you know him? He is the little…uh, I mean Hiei's father."

"No, I don't. I didn't even know Hiei's father was still alive." Botan glanced first at Yukio then Yukina. 'This could either be really good, or really bad.' Either way Botan hoped she could watch the fireworks from a safe place, like Koenma's office. 'That should be safe enough…I think.'

"Did you know my mother?" Yukina asked stepping closer to Yukio, who retreated back a step without really meaning too.

"Yes…years ago. You look a lot like her."

Yukina smiled at the compliment, then her eyes widened as something occurred to her. "Did you know my brother…?" It took that one sentence for realization to dawn.

'He looks like Hiei…and…he knew my mother.'

Yukina had always sensed that there had been something special about Hiei, even when he tried to hide his kindness behind a mask of indifference, it always shown through.

'Here it comes.' Botan thought leaning forward eagerly. She wasn't the only one holding her breath, so was Koto and Juri, while Keiko and Shizuru looked on with a smile, although those differed.

Isis on the other hand, wished she had a remote control so she could fast-forward all this to the part where they got the hell out of this place.

"Father!" Yukina cried out joyfully, launching herself at him.

'Well…not technically.' Yukio thought, awkwardly patting Yukina on the back when she embraced him. He'd never had much experience with children, even if she wasn't one anymore, he still couldn't help feeling at a loss.

'Oh, how sweet.' Botan sniffed, blinking away tears.

'Well, at least he's not pointing that sword at me anymore.' Kyro thought, scratching the back of his head. His hand bumped against his horns, making him remember a particular detail. "I hate to break up this happy family reunion, but I don't suppose you-"

"Isn't this just so very touching!" A slurred voice snarled from the darkness behind Yukio.

The dark haired demon whirled around; his right foot stomped on the edge of the hilt of the sword he'd dropped, causing the sword to flip upward, where he caught it, pointing it at the darkness. With a tilt of his head he gestured for Yukina to rejoin the girls.

Nikias dragged himself from the darkness, or at least the right side of Nikias did, somehow making it to his one foot. Black blood pumped out from the half of his body, while half of his brain hung out from a fleshy cord, dripping green liquid, and the intestines that clung to him slowly began to reassemble themselves.

Nikias cupped the half of his brain and stuffed it back into his skull, his other half, still on the ground, struggled to its one foot.

Shizuru stepped in front of the frightened girls, Isis, looking like she'd like to be sick, joined her, her Elementals taking protective stances at their sides.

"How can he still be alive?" Keiko asked frightened.

"Good question. You, the one who doesn't look insane, care to enlighten us?" Isis shouted, trying to keep her voice steady.

"We're not like you humans or this galaxy's demons for that matter, cut us up all you want, but unless you break our horns, near the skull may I add, we'll still live," Kyro explained.

"You will die, traitor!" Nikias snarled, saliva mixed with black blood slipping down his chin. He stood in the middle of a pool of his own blood, and the blood began to bubble out, small black spheres rising up around him.

"That's all I needed to know." Yukio dropped his sword once more and brought up his arms, the symbols on his gloves glowing red. "I hope you don't believe I'm going to let you finish your attack."

"Just to warn you, breaking our horns is in no way easy," Kyro said.

Yukio smirked. "I doubt that."

Just before both halves of Nikias joined, they were jerked apart, the head pulled back and down.

Whatever attack Nikias had been trying to attempt, this sudden motion interrupted it, the blood plopping back to the ground. Nikias began to scream when his horns took on a red glow.

Although most of the girls had turned away, the screams made them cover their ears in an attempt to block it out. The sound of thick bone snapping reached them, and Nikias's screams cut off abruptly.

"Please tell me it's over." Juri whimpered, crouching on the ground.

"It's over." Kyro let them know, his voice unsteady. He cleared his throat, stepping away when Yukio turned and strode away from the mess that had once been Nikias.

"I take it you know a way out of this place?" he asked Kyro.

"Yes-" He was interrupted by the echoing sound of a gong, the ground trembled beneath them, then silence descended abruptly.

"Emma has activated the stronger defenses. We need to get out of here now."

"What about Fay?" Botan asked. "We can't just leave her here with that awful little girl."

"Isis, make sure the girls get to safety. I'll go find her," Yukio ordered.

It was the perfect excuse to get the hell out of…hell, but to Isis's misfortune she found that she did have a conscious, and it wouldn't let her leave until she made up for what had happened in her battle against Fay and her friends.

"No, I'll go help rescue Fay. You,' she pointed at Yukio. "Go make sure the girls get to safety." Before he could contradict her, Isis quickly went on. "I'm going out on limb here and saying that you don't want Hiei to find out that dear ole papa is back in town."

Yukio glowered at her choice of words but gave a stiff nod.

"Then you need to leave before he and the others show up. Windros says it'll be five minutes, tops, before they get here. Which means you have to leave now."

"Are you sure you're not just planning to kidnap Fay yourself?" Botan demanded, hands on hips.

"Listen, the only reason I'm here is because he,' she gestured at Yukio. "Bribed and bullied me into it. I quit this whole mess after last time, or at least I think I did. Now I'm just repaying Fay."

Botan thought it over for a moment. "Alright, we'll trust you,' she pointed her forefinger at Isis in warning. "But try anything sneaky and I'll clobber you myself."

"Yeah, yeah." Isis waved her threat away.

"Could we get going now?" Juri ventured. "I'd rather not stand around and wait for another monster to show up."

"Come on, follow me." Kyro headed across the large hallway to a small door. He opened it, gesturing for the others to follow inside.

Yukio sheathed his double sided blade, took a hold of Yukina's hand, and hurried after Kyro.

"Thank you for helping us, bye." Keiko said when she passed by Isis.

'At least one of them is polite.' Isis thought. "Windros,' the air stirred around her in response. "Go with them and guard their backs, take your orders from them."

There was hesitation in the stirring wind, as if the idea did not appeal to the Elemental, but a stern look from Isis had the wind flowing into the room after the others, the small door closing quietly after it.

Isis let out a dejected sigh once they were alone.

"What was that for?" Ceres asked her.

"You'd be gloomy too if your life's work was being dismantled," she grumbled. "I spent years of my life building myself up into someone whom no one would expect much out off, so they'd leave me alone. I even thought that little voice at the back of my head had given up on me as well, and now look,' she gestured at the closed door with her right hand. "One good deed and its back to square one!" she whined. Turning, Isis headed back down the corridor they'd come. She might as well meet up with the wild bunch.

"Ah, don't feel bad,' Firez consoled her, patting he head with an armored hand. "To us, you're still that whining, lazy girl with her head in the clouds."

Isis looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks that makes me feel a little better."

Behind them Ceres rolled his eyes under his head armor. It was just sad that Isis's statement had come out grateful instead of sarcastic.

The trio sped up; following the red glowing light Firez had called forth. It floated into the main corridor, disappearing into the bright spirit energy that flashed past, carrying pieces of the front door with it.

"I see you like making an entrance." Isis stepped into the main hall, facing the group of boys and one unknown girl, who ran inside. To her left, Firez replaced his extinguished flame.

"It's you!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pointing accusingly.

"If you're involved in this kidnapping in anyway prepare yourself, because this time I'm kicking your ass!" Yusuke warned her.

Before Isis could make a reply she found a blade at her throat, Hiei at the handle. Her Elementals tensed, but with a wave of her hand she stayed them.

"Start talking, where are they, and you better not lie or I'll slit your throat before your servants can so much as flinch."

"Hello, Hiei. Nice to see you're well. Me, oh I'm doing swell, besides the blade at my neck. I'm so glad to see you haven't lost any of your manners."

His eyes narrowed in warning.

"Hiei,' Touya spoke. "She hasn't done us any harm; maybe we should let her explain first."

"Touya's right." Genkai said. "Put your sword away Hiei. If you haven't noticed she hasn't attacked us, and she had a very good chance when we came through the door."

"And if you kill her, we will never find out where they're keeping the girls," Kurama added.

For a moment it seemed as if Hiei wouldn't listen, but finally he stepped back, though he didn't sheath his sword. "Make one wrong move and I will kill you."

Isis scratched her head, wondering what a wrong move would look like to him. "If you're done threatening me; I'll explain myself before company arrives."

She didn't elaborate at their questioning looks and instead explained. "A certain…well wisher to you all found and dragged me into this, throwing in my face that I owed you guys, Fay especially. So I came here with him to help rescue the girls, who weren't doing all that bad a job at rescuing themselves. They left not that long ago. You don't have to trust my word, though you have little choice, but they're in good hands and being escorted to safety. All but Fay."

"So my sister and Yukina are safe?" Kuwabara asked his voice tentatively relieved. Isis nodded in response.

"Do you happen to know where they're keeping Fay?" Kurama asked her.

Isis shrugged. "I don't, but I have a guide who does know. Now,' she tilted her chin in the direction of the nearest person whom she didn't recognize. "Care to introduce?"

"My name is Touya, the Ice Master." Isis raised an eyebrow at the title.

"The name's Jin, the Wind Master."

"I'm Suzuka; the guy next to me is Shishi."

"Chu; Master of the Sui ken fighting style. This here,' Chu pointed his thump to the boy riding his shoulder, "Is Rinku. He's got a bit of a talent with yoyos."

"That's not a very good introduction." Rinku jumped off Chu's shoulder. "My name's Rinku, Yoyo Master."

"Kuronue."

'Not much of a talker is he.' Isis thought when the tall dark hair one introduced himself. She turned to look at the girl. "My name is Genkai, that's all you need to know."

"Fair enough,' Isis said. "I guess I'll introduce myself formally. The name's Isis. These two are my Elementals; Ceres and Firez. They're here to help out this time, so try not to break their forms. I sent Windros with the girls. And this,' she pointed above her at the ghost like figure of a woman with long green hair that monetarily appeared. "Is Terra, my Earth Elemental."

"Hey, I don't remember her," Kuwabara said.

"Because I didn't summon her." Isis said with a roll of her eyes. "Now that we all know each other,' As Isis turned to face the darkness of the hall behind her, the group sensed the presence approaching. "I think it's time we start working on getting to Fay before Emma decides to see what makes her tick."

The ground underneath them trembled every time the creature headed their way took a step forward.

Kuwabara gave a cry of surprise. "What the heck's that!"

The creature stepped into the light. The immense body towering above them appeared to be that of a seriously overgrown komodo dragon, but the head was that of a human, except there was only one red glowing eye at its forehead.

"So where they'd get this freak from?" Yusuke murmured, taking on a fighting stance.

"I don't think I want to know." Isis quickly took long steps back.

"I'll take care of it." Hiei jumped upward, a second later the head rolled down with a grunting shout of pain, the body collapsing to the ground.

"I see you like decapitating things," Isis mumbled.

"We don't have time to waste. Let's go." Hiei sheathed his sword and took a step forward.

"Hold on! I don't think its dead." Kuwabara shouted in warning.

"How the heck does anything still live when they have no head?" Yusuke demanded.

"You have noticed that there's no blood gushing out, right?" Isis inquired mildly. "Emma may like things that do that, but I bet she knows that anything that gushes blood can be killed easily enough,' remembering Nikias, Isis shuddered. "Most of the time."

One of the paws twitched, the neck flopped to one side, then the other. Two heads burst forth from the neck, shaking off the white goo that clung to them. This time, the heads had a poisonous green tinge to them, scales clung to their faces here and there, and their tongues resembled those of cobras.

"This is going to take some time." Yusuke said grimly.

"Time we don't have," Kurama said. "We must find its weakness quickly."

"So what kind of weakness would this thing have?" Shishi asked drawing his sword.

Whatever the answer was, it was drowned out by the creature's roar as it charged forward.

'Stupid hydra copy.' Isis thought, dodging to the side. "Firez!" she shouted.

He nodded and disappeared in a burst of flames, pouring into her body as she stood.

Hiei lashed out with his sword once more, cutting of the heads before Kurama's warning to stop could reach him. The body didn't even stop moving this time, it kept moving as four more heads sprouted from the neck, a scalier look to them.

"No more head cutting, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted, rolling away from a lashing tail. "It's just making things worse!"

"Then what do you suppose we do?" Hiei demanded. "Wait until it stomps on us?"

"I can try freezing it," Touya suggested.

"That thing's too big; it'll take a lot of energy just to freeze its upper body!" Suzuka scrambled away before claws came down on him.

"I'll try my spirit gun-"

"Big and ugly! Over here!" Isis's shout echoed of the walls. It gained the creature's attention.

"Hold it!" Jin shouted from above. While the others had been dodging the lower body of the creature, he'd been dodging snapping heads that left him little time to create his signature attack. "Ye can't just be charging the thing like that!" He'd caught sight of Isis running forward even as she shouted.

He darted in between two of the heads, determined to reach the crazy lass before she was killed, but even as he sped through the air, Isis evaded a swipe of a paw, slid across the floor until she was to the side of the creature's body, ran forward, and jumped up moments before she struck out at the creature with a side kick that sent it hurling into the opposite wall.

The boys scrambled to get out of the way, then looked between the creature and Isis who'd landed on her feet. "How the hell did you do that!" Yusuke demanded. She hadn't shown this kind of power the first time they'd fought, heck she hadn't stepped into the fight at all.

"Yeah, and can you teach it to me?" Rinku asked impressed.

"Not easily." Isis replied, massaging her leg. "To both questions." 'That hurt more than I thought it would.' She straightened, taking on a fighting stance. "You guys go; I'll handle this thing with Firez's help. Ceres and Terra will go with you. Terra can lead you to Fay and Emma, but I suggest you hurry."

"Lucky kick aside, do you really think you can handle this thing on your own?" Shishi asked, incredulous.

"I'm not doing it alone, Firez is helping out. We'll handle it, you guys go do what you came here to do, because if it turns out that I put this much effort into this stupid fight and Fay's dead,' she pointed at Yusuke, letting her finger glide to the last of them, Kuronue. "I am so going to kick you into the next century."

"You heard her boys, she can take care of herself,' Genkai said. "Let's go."

"Don't end up dead, sheila. I may just be getting a crush on yah." Chu said smiling at her.

"Thanks,' Isis replied dryly. "But my dating age limit is eighteen."

"Shot down again!" Rinku grinned, dodging Chu's fist.

The creature stirred, getting to its feet.

"Let's move, people!" Yusuke shouted heading after the golden light leading the way down the enormous corridor.

"Are you sure you won't need any help?" Touya slowed down as he passed her, looking to her in question.

Isis shook her head. "I'm sure, but this damn well not be for nothing, get going."

"Be careful." Touya sped up, then paused when Isis called his name. He turned back to her.

"Tell Hiei that slicing the Demons in half won't do him much good either, you have to break the horns near the skull in order to bring them down for good."

Touya nodded. "I'll let them know, thanks." He turned, speeding down the corridor to catch up with the others.

The creature caught sight of Touya's retreating back and roared, springing after him.

'No you don't.' A wall of fire burst into life between the monster and the rest of the corridor.

"You want to go after them, you have to fight me first!" she shouted, once more drawing its attention to her. The creature took her at her word, stampeding her way. 'Well…this so totally sucks.' Isis thought, her lips pursed in a grim line.

* * *

"Why is it so damn dark in here?" Yusuke could barely make out anything but what Terra's light was illuminating, and that wasn't much.

"They probably don't need light as much as everyone else…if at all." Kuronue responded. Unlike the others, he was able to see in this darkness a little better, but not by much. This oppressive darkness was not natural.

"Then let's be grateful we have a guide, and save our breath for running." Genkai suggested firmly.

The light leading them took a left down a branching corridor, kept going for what felt to Kuwabara like forever, took a right and illuminated a wide set of stairs leading up into more thick darkness. The stairs proved to be a lot longer than they thought, so that Chu had to pick up Rinku and set him on his shoulder so they wouldn't leave him behind. They finally left the stairs and headed down the second floor main corridor.

The running continued on until they found another set of stairs leading up, this one even wider than the last. "Don't these demons believe in elevators!" Kuwabara complained loudly, "Or at least escalators."

"It's called strategy, Kuwabara." Genkai said. "They're counting on us to tire ourselves with all the running."

"As well as be delayed." Kurama said.

They were near the top of the stairs when Terra's light came to a stop.

"What now?" Hiei demanded.

Terra's light flared.

"Above us!" Kuwabara shouted, looking up.

There was a bird-like screech from above, a large winged form hurled itself down at them, opening its beak and screeching again. The group darted up the stairs, behind them the creature's sound cracked the stairs, the debris tumbling down noisily.

The creature itself didn't so much look like a bird than an overgrown red bat, though its wings were covered with feathers.

"So then,' the wind stirred around Jin and he sped through the air, slamming a fist into the creature's face before it could open its mouth. It was hurled upwards.

"Jin, what are you doing?" Yusuke shouted up at him.

Keeping an ear open for the bat's next attack, Jin looked back down. "Bad enough the stairs go on forever, if we all stop to take this one out we'll never make it to Fay in time." He darted to the side when the bat returned, slamming a knee into its stomach. "I was after rescuing Fay meself, but I'll be leaving that up to ye now." One of the reasons Jin had wanted to be the one to rescue Fay was so he'd get the reward. From what he'd seen, rescuers either got a hug or a kiss, he'd much prefer the kiss, but he supposed there was no helping it, he'd be having to claim that kiss later.

"Just don't get killed!" Yusuke shouted up at him after a moment.

Jin gave him a thumps up. "I can't be doing that, now can I. I still have to beat ye, Yusuke."

Yusuke grinned, returning the thumps up before turning to the light that was Terra. "Let's go."

The light flickered, from it drifted out six large glowing dandelion seeds that floated up to provide Jin with light.

'Almost forgot about that, Jin can't exactly fight in the dark,' Yusuke thought.

Terra's light headed down the next corridor, lighting up another turn.

"Once you're done here catch up to us, Jin!" Touya called up.

"I'll be doing that!" Jin responded, abruptly descending so that the screech from the bat would miss him.

Touya left, leaving Jin facing the bat creature. He grinned. "Right, this won't be taking too long, now."

Instead of attacking again, the bat flew in place, letting a high pitched laugh roll out of its mouth.

'Now what?' Jin thought warily watching his opponent.

"Emma was right,' it spoke in its high pitched voice. "You will be easy to pick off."

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were ye, you may be wanting to take it back once this fight's over!" he started swinging his arm, forming his tornado fist.

The bat laughed once more, staying still as Jin brought his fist forward and let the attack fly.

It hit full on, but all the bat did was laugh louder.

When Jin's attack dissipated, he could see that the bat was unharmed, it had even changed somewhat. The feathers were still red but now they glinted like metal, a scorpion's tail swung back and forth behind the bat, while the snout had elongated, looking more like a wolf's rather than a bat's. Gleaming small eyes stared at him, the claws on the bats feet moving as if trying to grab a hold of something.

Jin wasn't exactly sure when the bat moved, for a second it had appeared as if the bat had attempted to hurl something at him, but there had been nothing in its clawed feet. 'What the devil?'

It took mere seconds, and the next thing Jin knew, an invisible force slammed forcefully against his stomach, hurling him back, his body striking the wall.

"You may have some mastery of the wind,' the bat cackled. "But I am a wind ghoul of the third hell!"

Jin coughed, steadying himself before he fell; he placed a hand over his stomach, glaring angrily at the ghoul. "I'll still be beating ye, so don't go looking so smug!"

* * *

'They couldn't have taken her to a one bedroom apartment?' Kuwabara thought, following after Terra near the front. At this rate, by the time they reached their destination they would be too worn out to win a fight.

Instinct kicked in, warning him so that he veered to the right, missing the trap. "Guys, there's a trap-" Kuwabara turned to warn the rest of his friends, except that most of them had already trampled past the trap without setting it off. "Never mind."

The last in line, Suzuka and Shishi, weren't as lucky. One of them stepped in the wrong place, setting the trap off so that he and Suzuka suddenly found themselves falling down a trapdoor. Their shouts caught the others' attention and they turned back, gathering around the trap door.

"Suzuka, Shishi!" Touya shouted. "Are you both alright?"

The echo of groans reached them, then Shishi spoke up. "We're fine, but we wouldn't mind some light down here!"

Chu turned to their guide, but she was already sending the dandelion seeds on their way. They watched as the light descended until it finally illuminated Shishi and Suzuka. They stood in a large square room. The ground beneath them was dirt, here and there they could just barely make out bones sticking out from the ground.

"Hang in there; we'll get yah out of there!" Chu shouted down.

"I don't think that's going to be possible." Suzuka called up. Shishi had drawn his sword while Suzuka had taken on a battle stance. No one above could tell what the two were looking at until they came into view.

"Is it me, or is anyone else seeing double?" Yusuke asked.

"Corentin tried this before," Hiei scoffed. "It won't take them long to get rid of the copies."

"Not exactly." They turned to Ceres. "All Corentin did was copy your shadows and use them against you," he explained. "This is much worse, those two are doppelgangers. The moment Shishi and Suzuka hit the ground they must've activated a hellborn spell."

"Care to elaborate?" Kurama asked.

"A hellborn spell is the worst of the forbidden dark magic, especially because it requires so much death and pain. The grounds especially are littered with them. In your friends' case, the hellborn spell has created a harbinger of doom for them. They are the dark part of themselves, they know all the original knows, and are even more skilled thanks to the spell that created them."

"If it is a spell, then it means there must be a way to break it as well," Kurama stated.

In the room below, Shishi and Suzuka had already engaged in battle, and although they were holding up their own, it was easy to see that the doppelgangers were faster, stronger.

Ceres nodded. "Yes,' he raised his voice so that it would reach Shishi and Suzuka. "You must kill them, but you must do it through light, or enact a justice slaying! Otherwise…well, let's just say that the bones buried under the ground prove a point."

"How are we supposed to do either of those two?" Shishi demanded, glaring up at them before he had to block his doppelganger's attack.

"Rainbow Cyclone!" Suzuka hurled his attack at his doppelganger but it only responded in kind, his own attack leaving a small crater where Suzuka had once stood.

"Shouldn't my rainbow cyclone classify as a light attack?" Suzuka shouted up.

Ceres shook his head. "Not if it's been used before for…let us say selfish means."

"Chorus of a thousand skulls!" Shishi's own attack was easily overpowered by his doppelganger's, and Shishi soon found himself having to evade a more powerful version of his own attack. "Did you really have to do that?" Suzuka snapped, he too had to start dodging for his life.

"I'm coming down!" Yusuke shouted.

"No, Yusuke." Kurama stalled him.

"Why the hell not? We need to help them-"

"Think,' Genkai said. "If you go down there, then you'll be touching the ground, which also means that you'll have your own doppelganger to deal with, one stronger than you."

That gave Yusuke pause. "Okay, so what do we do then?"

"Keep going!" Suzuka shouted up at them. "We all know what happens if they manage to get a hold of Fay's power. Personally, I'd rather deal with this than with someone who has a veritable ocean of power at their command!"

"I'm not going to be brought down by a copy of myself, no matter how powerful he may be!" They heard Shishi shout. "I'll find a way to defeat him, without anyone's help!"

"Alright, we'll meet up with you two later!" Touya called down.

"As soon as we take care of these copy cats!" Suzuka called up, engaging his doppelganger in a sword fight.

Touya stood. "We have little choice, we have to keep going."

Reluctantly, Yusuke nodded. "We'll be back for you!" He shouted down at them. Once more the group headed away.

**AN: Someone asked what happened to those who broke the rules...that should be answered in the chapter after next. **

**Till next chapter^^**

_Next Chapter Preview_

_"Once I'm done, you'll beg to do my will."_

_"She's getting back up!"_

_"Since you have given me what I wanted..."_

_'Get up, get up now!'_


	43. Chapter 43: Overcoming Obstacles

Chapter 42: Overcoming Obstacles

Yusuke hated the thought of leaving his friends behind to fight, but he also knew that they could take care of themselves. 'We'll all come out of this alive, somehow.'

"Kuwabara." Genkai turned to the tall youth. "Take the lead, with your sixth sense leading us; we should be able to avoid most traps in the corridors."

Kuwabara nodded. "Right, just leave it to me!" He started after Terra's light, the rest of the group falling in behind him.

Another staircase loomed, more hallways, then Terra once more halted, her dandelion seeds drifting out to light up their next opponent.

"You!" Kurama took a step forward, reaching for the rose he kept in his hair.

Chu placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "You've got a sheila to rescue; I'll be taking on this brawl."

Kurama looked up at Chu; whatever he saw in his friend's gaze seemed to convince him. His arm dropped to his side. "I'll leave it in your hands then, Chu."

"He's not the only one who's staying." Rinku stepped forward, glaring at their opponent. "I still have to pay him back for last time. No one tries to make me hurt my friends and gets away with." Not to mention taking control of him.

"You heard them boys, let's go." Genkai's steps faltered when Dante's mocking laughter rang out.

"What makes you think I'm going to let any of you pass?" Streamers of green mist spread out through the hall, resembling fence wires.

"I went easy on you last time because all I wanted was information, this time,' he grinned darkly, showing fangs. "I'm going to kill you all. I've been craving the sound of tearing flesh lately, yours will do well."

"I take it you're the one who kidnapped the girls?" Hiei demanded.

"No, that was Nikias. You would have recognized my energy a second time,' Dante sneered at Hiei. "But it seems that one of your allies has taken care of bringing down Nikias. Frankly, he deserved it for being such an overconfident fool."

"Let us through." Dante's gaze traveled to Yusuke, who stared at him steadily, almost making Dante feel unnerved.

"I received your message and I passed it on to Fay, but I think I saw more than you wanted me to see."

Dante's eyes narrowed. "Oh,' he mocked. "And what was that? How much I long to dance on your graves?"

"No,' Yusuke said. "I didn't see it at first because all those images you threw into my head were so strong, but then again, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Their gazes locked in a battle of wills.

"I know what you went through ever since you met Fay. At first it really was just the power you could sense in her, but that changed as time went by. You had to fight your blood thirst, your instincts whenever you were near her. You wanted to protect her, just as much as we want to rescue her. I can't say I know how you felt, but I know it must've been hell for you. It still is. You were relieved when she suddenly disappeared. I felt what you felt when you were told what she was."

Yusuke took a determined step forward. "I know you're glad that she found us to protect her,' his voice rose. "But if you don't let us through now, everything you've gone through, everything you did to keep her from being noticed by your family; it'll all be for nothing! Is that what you want! To see Fay die? I know it isn't so let us through and I promise, we'll do whatever we have to do to protect her!" His voice resonated in the hall, the echo slowly fading away, leaving silence behind.

Dante was the first to look away, a short tormented laugh escaping his lips. Yusuke barely managed to catch a glimpse of the green crazed light in his eyes dimming, the natural of his brown eyes visible once more.

"She shouldn't be yours, you know." He didn't speak to Yusuke, but Kurama.

"I'm the one who protected her for so long, then that woman came along and awoke her power." His laughter was self mocking. "But then, I couldn't have stayed with her either way." The streamers blocking their way receded, the green mist sinking back into him. "Go,' green flashed in his eyes. "Before I change my mind."

"We won't let her die." Yusuke promised as he passed by Dante.

Chu straightened from the whispered conversation he'd been having with Touya. "Thanks for that bit of info."

"Good luck." Touya headed after the others.

Kurama followed behind, the last. He came to a stop next to Dante. "Rest assured, I will not make your mistakes, and whatever the cost, I will protect her."

Dante squeezed his eyes shut. "Keep your promise fox, and I will die without any regrets."

Kurama nodded and left. Dante doubled over, gritting his teeth.

"Can't fight it, can yah?" Chu asked quietly. He and Rinku could see the green that bled through his squeezed eyelids, pouring down his cheeks like tears.

"No, and frankly, I'm done fighting it." Dante straightened, opening poison green eyes. "I can smell your emotions,' he snarled. "I suggest you stop feeling sorry for me and start worrying about yourselves,' as he spoke, the mist began to gather behind him, much like a large wave about to crash down. "Because I'll be sending you to hell soon!"

* * *

"How much further?" Yusuke asked. At this rate, they'd never get anywhere. The light in front of them flickered repeatedly.

"Terra says that there's one more stairway, it'll lead out to the roof, that's where we should find Emma and Fay." Ceres informed them.

"Then we better speed up."

Just before they hit the stairs, they were forced to stop once more. Between them and the staircase were two figures. Both were identical to each other, and each one held out a long wing that blended into the darkness on both sides.

Neither spoke, but it was obvious that they wouldn't be moving anytime soon.

"You're wasting our time so get out of the way!" Hiei would have rushed them, but Kuronue stepped in front of him, scythe swinging from the thin chain.

"Let them pass." He told the demon females. "I will be your opponent."

"You mean we,' Touya walked to his side. "The rest of you have a promise to keep."

"Thanks, we'll leave this one to you two then." Yusuke said.

Touya turned to the two females. "Let them pass, we are your opponents."

The two didn't move. Kuronue and Touya braced themselves to attack, but the female to the right finally folded a large wing. "You will be late. By now the dementium has turned The Right into nothing more than a blank slate ready to be written upon. Emma will be doing so even as we speak." It wasn't one who spoke but both, their voices in perfect synchronization.

"We'll see about that." Hiei glanced at Kuwabara who took up the lead, followed by the last of their group.

"We are Nerina." They both stated. "And we will be your executioner."

"I'll take the one on the right." Kuronue said.

Touya nodded. "Then I'll take the one on the left, mind if I put up my ice barrier?"

"Go ahead, it'll just mean they can't get away."

A burst of icy wind whipped past the two women, the ice barrier rose, encircling them all.

The two women raised their swords and advanced.

* * *

The last staircase led them to a hallway with only one path; they followed it until Terra flickered in warning once more.

"Don't you guys have anything better to do than trying to stop us!" Yusuke shouted in anger.

"Our job is to stop you." The white haired man stepped into the light, folding up the long sleeves of his dress shirt. "Frankly, I dislike battle; my clothes get dirty and I was not made for it. However,' he took on a tentative battle stance. "My sister has ordered me to keep all of you from reaching her until she's completed the ritual that will seal your fates."

Kuwabara smirked. "Don't worry you guys; I can take on this pretty boy myself." He cracked his knuckles, stepping forward. "You go save Fay."

"No."

The remaining group turned to Genkai as she stepped forward. "You should know by now that appearances can be deceiving, Kuwabara."

"What is that supposed to mean?" He pointed. "Look at him; he looks like someone who spends his time in an office drinking champagne! I can take him down, no problem."

"That's exactly what I mean, Kuwabara." Genkai responded impatiently. "Stop looking at the surface and start looking at what's beneath it. What he looks like is nothing more than an illusion to fool you!"

Kuwabara grumbled, staring at the man. 'I still don't see what she means.' What he could sense of this guy's strength wasn't anything to worry about. He could probably take him down when the guy stumbled from wearing those fancy shoes.

"I don't have time to explain it to you." Curling her hands into fists, Genkai readied herself. "All you have to know is that I'm claiming this one for myself. If he's been sent to fight us, it means that we're near our goal. So go finish this up. Besides, you still need to lead the others past whatever traps are left."

"Oh…yeah." Kuwabara muttered.

"Right, don't get killed grandma." Yusuke followed after Terra and Kuwabara, closely followed by the remaining group.

The two stayed still even after the others left, seizing each other up. Without a word, they attacked.

* * *

"I see light!" Kuwabara exclaimed. It was the light of the full moon, but after the oppressive darkness of this place, it felt almost as bright as the sun.

The exit led them to a large courtyard that held a fountain in the middle, further down they could see a path between two towering statues leading to a greenhouse. The statues gave Kuwabara chills, but he wasn't sure why.

"That's where Emma's keeping Fay." Ceres informed.

"Good, then let's go kick ass." They continued down the path, following Kuwabara and Terra's dimmer light, now that they had the full moon to help illuminate their way.

The chills running down Kuwabara's spine increased as they neared the statues, without meaning too he came to a stop before they got too close to them. Yusuke slammed into him before he could stop himself. "If you're going to stop give some warning! And why are we stopping anyway?"

"Is something the matter, Kuwabara?" Kurama asked, noting Kuwabara's demeanor. He hadn't even snapped back at Yusuke.

Kuwabara nodded, wiping sweat from his brow. "Yeah, those statues…I think there's something really bad about them. It's like I should know something about them, kinda like déjà vu, you know."

Yusuke glanced at the statues not that far from them, then back to Kuwabara. "So what, does that mean they'll suddenly come to life if we get to close?"

"Precisely."

Yusuke turned to look up at Ceres. "Your friend is correct, there's a demonic presence around them." As he spoke, Terra changed from the small light they'd been following into her ghostly figure, then solidified.

Now the boys could see that her long unbound hair was actually made up of leaves cascading down her back to her knees. She also wore some armor, but it was light, covering her upper chest, her waist, shoulders, and her legs past her knees.

"There is one definite way to put this to the test. Ceres and I will venture forth, if the statues make a move, we will fight them." She gave the boys a confident smile. "And once you see your chance, go through."

"Got it." Yusuke said.

The two Elementals headed down the path while the boys watched warily. They stepped into the shadows of the large mounted statues, almost immediately, cracks began to run down the stone skin of the statues, crumbling to the ground.

There was a roar as the creatures hidden beneath stone broke free and jumped down, slashing at the Elementals.

"I knew there was something about them!" Kuwabara exclaimed in dismay. "They're like that ghoul we fought the first time!"

"Yeah, and we don't have any swords that can take them down." Yusuke added grimly. Not to mention what the presence of two, instead of only one of those things meant.

"Do not worry about us!" Terra shouted back to them. "We are not mortals, but spirits." A long blade appeared in her hand, and she swung, cutting at the clinging flesh of the ghoul.

"Therefore we need no legendary weapon to cut these foul beings down!"

"Your heard her,' Hiei said impatiently. "They can take them down on their own, let's go." He was moving before he'd finished speaking, this time not waiting for Kuwabara to lead the way.

"Right." Kurama followed, Yusuke and Kuwabara behind, thought the latter took a much larger detour around the battle.

* * *

The glasshouse loomed closer and larger than it had looked from a distance. The glass door was opened as they approached, as if in invitation.

"Alright, where's Fay!" Yusuke demanded as they burst in. He wasn't even surprised when the one that turned their way was a child, though the wings and horns did make it interesting.

She'd been muttering to herself when they'd entered, pacing back and forth in front of a large covered cage, now the girl stopped and smiled innocently up at them. "Hello, you must be the unexpected guests."

"Emma, I take it?" Kurama inquired.

The girl nodded.

"We know that you are responsible for Fay's kidnapping, whatever your plans, they will not come to fruition. Return her to us and we shall let you be." Kurama did not like lying, indeed he avoided it as much as possible, but he would do what he must to safely retrieve Fay.

Hiei glanced at him, but said nothing.

"Well, you gonna hand Fay over?" Yusuke demanded.

For his part, Kuwabara remained quiet. He didn't fight girls, period. But this one…he wasn't so sure the kid was what she appeared to be at all.

Emma giggled, though the sound came out forced, with an edge of madness to it. She turned away, returning to her pacing. "I wanted the birdie to be ready when you finally managed to make it here." She gave a disappointed sigh. "You see, the cage she's in is made of a metal called dementium. It's supposed to drain the memories, the feelings right out of its victim in just the span of an hour, perhaps two." She whirled to glare at them, as if they were at fault. "But this birdie has been in there for a long time, yet she resists the effect,' Emma turned to the covered cage and lashed out. Her hand didn't even come close to it, but the cage swung violently.

Yusuke gritted his teeth in anger. 'Okay that's it!'

Hiei beat him to it, he dashed forward, yet stopped before he could even touch the girl, whose eyes had turned to him, glowering in fury. He stepped back instead.

'What?' Kurama looked from Hiei to Emma. 'Why?' He had only ever seen Hiei back away once, but this was different, this…he could not put a name to it.

"Did shorty just back away from a fight?" Kuwabara muttered in disbelief.

Yusuke blinked, as if that would dispel the illusion. "Yeah…I think he did."

"Snow and light!" Emma spoke forcefully, stepping forward. "Shadows and fire! Pain that spreads, dirtying like soot!" Another step forward, another back. "Rage that claws, rips and tears!"

Hiei clutched at his head, glaring at the girl in front of him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" He growled between clenched teeth.

Emma reached for him, looking almost gentle. "I am merely freeing you from-" she jumped back, turning an angry glare at Kurama, whose rosewhip had torn the ground she'd stood on. "I will get to you too, trapped little fox. Once I'm done, you'll beg to do my will."

"I don't care if you are a little kid! I'm done playing nice!" Yusuke pointed his forefinger at her, but all she did was laugh. "Go ahead, shoot, but just remember; I'm standing between you and what you're looking for." She grabbed a hold of the cloth covering the large cage and pulled. The cloth slid to the ground, revealing a haggard looking Fay.

"Fay!" Kurama lashed out with his whip, forcing the girl to move away from the cage. He took the chance to run to the cage, but stopped short of touching it. Even he could feel it. It was if she were trapped in something…alive, malevolent. "Hold on, we'll get you out of there."

"Kurama get out of the way!" Having regained his composure, Hiei struck out at Emma from behind, aiming for the horns.

She cried out in pain when one of the horns went flying, stumbling back, she hit the ground and rolled away from them.

For a moment, Kuwabara felt the urge to go help her, but Yusuke hurried to join Hiei and Kurama, and Kuwabara inwardly shook his head, following him. 'Don't think about it, she may look like a kid and a girl, but there's just something wrong about her.'

"Hey guys, I knew you would come get me." Unable to help herself, Fay had found herself drowsing, now and then jerking herself half awake, but it had become infinitely harder to do so as time passed. The cloth that had covered the cage had made it even more difficult, but now that it was gone, Fay found she could resist the temptation of sleep a little better.

Kurama reached carefully through the bars, capturing Fay's hand in his. "Are you hurt?"

Fay shook her head, attempting a smile that fell short. "No, it's just that this cage is making me really sleepy. Don't let her fool you, she's done horrible things." She tightened her hold on Kurama's hand. "I'm scared of falling asleep this time."

"Hold on, we'll get you out of here." Kurama reassured her.

She nodded, reluctantly letting go of Kurama's hand when he turned his attention to the lock.

"Can you break the lock with your sword, Hiei? Kuwabara?"

"Stand aside, I'll try." Hiei brandished his sword, raising it. The cage swung violently, making them step back, then was hauled up into the darkness.

Hiei didn't hesitate, he leaped, hurling himself after the cage.

"Hiei don't!" Fay quickly reached for her wrist, sliding the bracelet loose and throwing it out at him.

Surprised, Hiei caught it; seconds before hissing from above caught his attention.

An immense snake struck, its jaws threatening to clamp down on his upper body, the barrier the bracelet provided flared up, giving him the seconds he needed to get away, landing back on the ground.

"Hiei!" His three companions ran to him. "You okay?" Yusuke asked.

"Yeah, that was a close call, shorty." Kuwabara said.

Hiei ignored them, gaze on the bracelet. His eyes narrowed, and he clutched the bracelet as he looked up. "Fool!" He shouted up. "How are you supposed to protect yourself now!"

Nothing but the sound of hissing answered him. 'Damn her! It shouldn't be this hard for her to be selfish!'

Emma's laughter captured their attention. The girl was standing, the severed horn back in place on her head. A crazed grin revealed fangs. "So that's what was protecting her from the full effect,' she laughed, twirling around. "And now it's gone! Now she will be mine!"

"Over my dead body!" Yusuke pointed, firing his spirit gun before he could think.

It hit, carrying her away and tearing at skin and bone, yet she didn't cry out, letting it consume her. The glass wall shattered as it tore through.

Yusuke's blast kept going, lighting up the sky, but Emma's broken body caught on the thick glass and hung there motionless, impaled from the stomach to the head, black blood oozing.

"I…I…" Yusuke stood frozen in place, eyes wide in disbelief at what his blast had done. 'I didn't mean for that to happen!'

"Get a hold of yourself, detective." Hiei demanded. "It was either her or Fay."

He and Kurama turned away, discussing how to get up to Fay. "I'll go.' Hiei said. "Now that I know that snake's there, it shouldn't be too to dispose of it."

"No, I will go. With my rosewhip, I should have a better grip than you." Kurama argued.

"Hey guys,' Kuwabara's tone was a feared. "She's getting back up!"

"What?" The two turned their attention to the body. "How is that possible!"

Emma jerked her body hard, tearing it as she freed herself from the glass. She hit the ground with a loud thud, and stood.

"I cut that horn from her head! I thought Touya said that's how you brought them down!" Hiei demanded angrily.

"And I didn't hold back on my spirit gun, so why's she still walking around!" His previous shock forgotten, Yusuke watched in disbelief as the little girl wiped the blood from her chin and walked towards them.

"She must have a different weakness,' Kurama said. "We will have to find it in order to defeat her."

"Easier said than done!" Kuwabara murmured grimly. They didn't really have much choice though, not if they wanted to survive.

"I'm done playing." Emma said, her tone almost friendly. "Since you have given me what I wanted, I no longer require you alive." Before any of them could so much as make a move, Emma began to grow rapidly.

Her upper body extended upward, thickening even as black scales grew over it. Her legs fused together, turning into a tail that elongated away from her. Her upper arms stretched out, growing new joints that snapped into place. New arms broke through black scales down her body, until there were ten sets in all, all thicker and longer than her upper arms. Her jaw thickened, jutted out, the lower longer than the top. Four new horns sprouted on her forehead, while her original pair grew to the sides and down to what passed for her tail.

"Uh…guys, I think she just turned into some kind of centipede monster!" Kuwabara swallowed. 'This is definitely not a good thing.' Usually he didn't make exceptions when it came to fighting girls, but this once…he thought the exception could be made.

"Kitara, Kimo." Behind them, two snakes almost equal in size with Emma slid down the glass walls, surrounding the four.

"You called Emma." They hissed together.

"Our tasty treats have arrived."

The snakes laughed malevolently.

The four boys faced outward, their backs to each other. "I'll take the one on the left." Hiei said, following the snake's movements.

"That leaves me with the one on the right." Kurama's attention was already on the snake, seeking out any weaknesses.

"I guess that leaves us stuck with their leader, huh, Kuwabara." Yusuke said.

"What! Uh…yeah, I guess it does." Kuwabara materialized his spirit sword.

"You're not going to wimp out on me cause she looks,' Yusuke took another look at the creature calling herself Emma, "Cause she looked like a girl, right?"

"No way, Urameshi. I don't even think she qualifies as one anymore."

"Good, then let's go."

The snakes struck, and the boys dispersed.

* * *

Isis stumbled away from the swiping paw, blinking away sweat that threatened to cloud her vision. 'I am so stinkin tired!' And all she'd managed to do so far was give her opponent two more heads, bringing the count to six, and a couple of burns thanks to Firez's power. 'It doesn't even seem to mind the stupid burns!'

'_Any ideas, Firez?'_ She didn't quite dodge the next swipe, the tip of the claw tore at the skin of her upper right arm. She yelped in pain and stumbled away, trying to hide herself in the thicker darkness, darkness that the creature didn't seem to mind.

'_Isis!' _

'_Spare me the 'are you okay' question and think damn it! I don't want to end up dead thanks to that fairy!' _

Mustering her waning strength, Isis ran towards and up the wall, jumping over the creature and landing as far from it as she could get.

'_I have an idea, unfortunately it will mean separating.'_

'Ah hell!' Isis knew what that meant. It was Firez's power keeping her exhaustion at bay, not to mention the pain she should be feeling after kicking that thing into the wall so many times.

She took a deep breath, readying herself for it. _'Okay, go with it, but do it in less than five minutes cause that's all I can give you.' _

'_It will be enough.' _

Striking out, Isis sent the creature into the opposite wall with a kick. _'Now!' _

Fire burst out of her body, coalescing into Firez, who shot up high into the darkness.

Left on her own, Isis couldn't help the pain filled whimper that escaped her. Her knees buckled beneath her, feeling like jelly. Her arm hurt like hell, and for a moment she couldn't fight off the exhaustion that tumbled onto her like a ton of bricks.

"Isis, get up!"

Isis would like to say that it was some hidden strength that she called up at the sound Firez's shout that made her get up. Truth was, it felt more like desperation to not end up being one of Emma's many pet projects. She stumbled up on legs that felt as if they'd been run over by too many trucks, and managed to take a few steps before they failed her again and she hit the ground.

The ground rumbled beneath her, the creature looming over her. 'Get up, get up now!' she ordered herself. Her arms made a half hearted attempt at the order, but buckled underneath the pain. 'Stupid, stupid fairy!'

At the cost of sounding wimpy, not that she minded; she really, really wanted her daddy. Heck, she'd take her mommy and be happy about it.

"Isis! This is no time to be lazy, you said five minutes!"

"Shut the hell up, Firez!" she rolled away from the snapping jaws, took the chance to kick at an eye, and stumbled up again while the creature tried to get the shoe it now had stuck in its eye out. It resulted in the rest of the heads snapping at the one causing pain, tearing at flesh, especially at the eye.

'Isn't that a nice bonus.' Isis slid down the wall she'd reached and forced herself to watch, even when her exhaustion would prefer she just go to sleep. From above, Firez's voice thundered.

The ground beneath the creature softened, heated, turned red and became molten lava. The creature sunk quickly into it, roaring and flailing about until it finally went silent, the lava devouring it.

Isis scrunched her face in distaste when the smell hit her. 'I can't decide which smell's worse, this or the death stink about this place.' Not that she cared one way or another at the moment.

Firez landed beside her, crouching to check on her. "Should I merge with you again?"

Isis shook her head, lowering herself to the ground. "Just…make sure nothing decides to turn me into a corpse while I sleep."

He nodded, though Isis didn't see it, already asleep.

* * *

"Tornado Fist!" Jin let his attack fly again, but not only did it do no harm to the creature, it then grabbed the attack as if grabbing a stick, hurling it back at him. 'Getting killed with me own attack, that would be right down embarrassing!'

He evaded the attack well enough, even if he found himself thrown to the side, but then he had to deal with the bat trying to chomp on his foot. Jin kicked out, catching the bat on its jaw so that it whimpered and retreated.

'So I can't be using me attacks. Then I'll just have to beat em some other way!'

The bat opened its mouth, but before it could let another shriek out, Jin attacked it with a combination of punches and kicks. 'Here goes!' Jin brought his right arm back as far as he could and slammed it into the bat-ghoul's stomach. It squawked as it fell, hitting the rubble of what once was the stairs. More rubble avalanched over the ghoul, burying it.

Jin waited, knowing it wasn't over. Sure enough, the sound of the bat's screech broke through the rubble. The bat crawled out through the hole he'd blasted and grinned up at Jin.

"You'll never take me down!" It jumped into the air, wings spreading. "Prepare to die!"

'I'm having to think of something quick. Can't be letting this ghoul win the fight.' He dodged the bat, yet it twisted and kept right on his tail.

His wind attack didn't seem to do much harm, if any, so Jin didn't bother with it, instead he stuck to physical attacks against the ghoul, but although that did do some damage, it wasn't enough to bring down the ghoul for good. 'There must be a way to finish it, can't really believe it's invincible. The problem's finding the thing.'

His next attack, the ghoul evaded, swiftly sinking fangs into his arm. Jin winced, gritting his teeth against the pain.

The ghoul's stretched lips slipped further up in a grin, fangs sinking down.

"Let go!" Jin used his other arm to attack, but the ghoul brought up a claw that clamped down on his arm.

"Ye won't be bringing me down that easy!" Jin brought up his knee, slamming it into the ghoul's stomach. In retaliation, the ghoul's tail spiked forward, sinking into Jin's right shoulder.

A cry escaped his lips, but he didn't falter. Jin took the opportunity to yank both his arms from the ghoul's hold, and struck out with his leg, sending the ghoul spinning away. 'Serves ye right, ye dirty fighter.' Jin clutched his right shoulder, wincing at the pain.

Outside the light given from the dandelion seeds, the ghoul laughed. "I was going to wait to poison you until I've played a little more, but you were becoming more than a mere nuisance."

'Poison!' Jin looked at the palm that had clutched his shoulder. The blood on it was darker than it should be. 'This isn't good.' He swayed in the air, starting to feel overly warm. 'I can't be losing to this ghoul. Me friends are counting on…' he rapidly blinked his eyes, hoping the blurriness would leave.

The ghoul continued to cackle as the poison's effect became more apparent. 'Can't…' He still had to fight Yusuke. Jin would not accept anyone but Yusuke taking him down. He stumbled to his knees, surprised that he'd lost altitude so quickly.

"_That power is inside you."_ Genkai's words echoed in his head. _"Don't just fight half assed and hope Fay hands it you again!"_

"_Got it Jin?" _This time it was Fay's voice that echoed in his head, and Jin's eyes snapped open. He hadn't even noticed when his eyes had closed, his body laid out on the floor.

'Got it.' He climbed to his feet, causing the ghoul to scurry away.

"What are you still doing standing up! You should be succumbing to your worst nightmares now! You should be dying!"

Jin blinked away sweat, forcing his eyes to focus. "Aye, can't say I'm not that far from it,' the wind whipped around him, strong enough that the larger pieces of rubble began to roll away. "But I'll be sending ye back to hell before I go!"

His right hand began to spin, the wind so strong that even the ghoul had trouble staying in place.

"It doesn't matter what you throw at me, your element is wind and so is mine, but I am stronger than anything you can use!" The ghoul opened its jaws, sucking in wind that began forming a whirling sphere in front of it, growing larger by the second.

Jin grinned. "Let's play it then, we'll be seeing who's the strongest now!"

Dust stirred as he took to the air, the wind wrapped around his arm glowing. "Tornado Fist, Event Horizon!"

"What!" The ghoul flung his attack at Jin, yet Jin's attack, instead of flinging it away as it would have before, sucked it in. The ghoul screeched into the sudden silence, flapping its wings rapidly to move away. It proved impossible, the pull of the attack dragged the ghoul into the oddly silent tornado, and it tumbled, feeling its body painfully stretching, warping, until the ghoul's life extinguished. Jin's tornado slammed against the opposite wall, leaving behind a large hole in the wall, the fragments of stone disappearing within it before it expired.

Jin gave a pained grin. 'Told ye I'd win.' He tumbled to the ground, just managing to keep himself from hitting the wreckage that had been the stairs. He still hit the ground hard, the breath driven from his lungs. The light from the dandelion seeds began to blur as his sight dimmed.

'Don't none of ye be loosing...either.'

Steps. Jin's ears twitched at the sound. His breathing was ragged, his heart sluggish, and though he could still open his eyes, everything was a blur. Someone leaned over him.

He whispered a name, though he could hardly remember what it was the next second.

"No,' the voice seemed to come from very, very far away. "But I'm sure she'll be glad to know you still thought of her on your death…floor." More steps, fading mutters.

It was as if he was suddenly plunged into water that cooled his heated skin. Consciousness faded, and Jin knew no more.

* * *

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_I missed the heart…by a fraction." _

"_We need a new plan."_

"_Where'd you learn the new trick?"_

"_Chu, get out of the way!"_


	44. Chapter 44: Round Two

Chapter 43: Round Two

**AN: Sorry it took so long to post this one up. Classes started up this week and everything went wrong, including my PC breaking down, so I had to get it fixed, again. Anyway here's the next chapter. **

**

* * *

**"I told you to stop using that attack!" Suzuka snapped at Shishi. The later had once more used his chorus of a thousand skulls; Shishi's doppelganger had reciprocated with his own more powerful version of the attack. Thus now they were both dodging for their lives.

"That's my strongest attack!" Shishi dodged to the left, then had to leap back when his doppelganger tried slicing his neck.

"Didn't you hear Ceres?" Suzuka brought up an arm, blocking his doppelganger's punch to his middle, though it felt as if his bone was in danger of snapping in half. "He said light attacks, or whatever that justice stuff might be. Your attack won't work at all, no matter how many times you try it!" He ducked under his doppelganger's guard, punching at his stomach. He found himself grabbed by the neck and thrown to the other side of the room.

"Suzuka!" Shishi shouted.

"I'm fine,' Suzuka rubbed the back of his neck. "But a little more pressure and I'd be as dead as the bones underneath us." He rolled away, letting his doppelganger hit the ground hard. 'And that could have killed me.' He climbed to his feet, putting distance between himself and his doppelganger.

He hit Shishi's back, and the two faced out at their adversaries.

"To bad we don't know how to use Genkai's trial by light technique; that would have done the trick," Suzuka said.

"We can't, so try thinking of something we can use." Shishi gripped his blade tighter. "Preferably before we're killed off by something with such a stupid sounding name." He blocked his doppelganger's blade with his own, fighting to take a step forward instead of back.

"What do you think I've been doing for the last fifteen minutes?" Suzuka would have moved away, but if he had, Shishi would have been open to attack by his own copy, so instead he braced himself, using both hands to block his doppelganger's straight right punch. He managed it, but he also found himself sliding back. 'Damn! If he can do this with just one arm, I hate to see what he can do with-'

"Shishi, move!"

The two disengaged, taking off in opposite directions. The hook meant for Suzuka struck Shishi's doppelganger, while the blade left a bloody gash down the other doppelganger's chest.

The two friends smirked. "Obviously they didn't come equipped with our superior brain power," Suzuka said.

"That's an idea; why not just let them finish each other off?" Shishi suggested.

The two shared a glance before Suzuka had to start moving to avoid his doppelganger, who unlike Shishi's, quickly recovered.

Shishi's own copy was still laid low on the ground. 'No sense in wasting a good opportunity.' Shishi hurried over to his copy's side, his blade slicing through the doppelganger's chest.

The pain came as an unwelcome surprise. He coughed out blood, gripping the blade he jerked it out and stumbled back, tumbling to the ground.

"Shishi!" Suzuka stopped running, taking advantage of his position; he threw an uppercut, sending his copy flying up. Dismissing him, Suzuka hurried to Shishi's side, kneeling beside him. "What happened?"

Shishi wiped at the blood at the corner of his lip, his other hand over a chest dripping blood. "Ceres left something out; if we try finishing them off with any other type of attack, it'll be us who gets killed."

Suzuka's worried gaze traveled to his friend's chest. "You didn't…?"

Shishi shook his head. "I missed the heart…by a fraction."

Catching movement, Suzuka stood, placing himself between Shishi and both doppelgangers. "Can you still fight?" he asked. He didn't think he could take on both doppelgangers. Even if he could, if what Ceres said was right, then each of them had to take their own out in order to come out of this alive. 'It didn't hurt us when they hurt each other…but with Shishi in this state…' This was not good.

"Don't count me out yet." Shishi struggled to his feet, using his sword to keep himself up. "I can still fight."

Instead of pointing out the obvious, Suzuka nodded, glancing back at his friend. "Let's try out the-"

"Watch out!" Shishi's warning came too late, Suzuka hit the wall at his side, sliding down.

Shishi brought his sword up, blocking his doppelganger downward strike. He could feel the blood running down his front and with it his strength, but he wouldn't go down until he destroyed this fake!

"Suzuka get up!" Shishi ordered.

Suzuka struggled to his own feet, clutching at his side. "I think I broke something." He had enough time to move his head to the side, avoiding his doppelganger's crushing strike, but he couldn't move away in time to avoid the knee to his middle, or the rest of the attacks to his body.

"Don't just stand there taking it!" Shishi gritted out, blocking his copy's sword again and again.

Suzuka finally managed to grab his doppelganger's knee and twist it, sending him tumbling to the ground. He took the opportunity to move away from his opponent, though he almost tripped.

"This is nothing compared to the beating I took from Genkai.' Suzuka said, his breath coming quickly.

"Genkai wasn't trying to kill you." Shishi took a hard-won step forward. "She was trying to teach you a lesson."

"Don't remind me." Suzuka said, watching grimly as his doppelganger got to his feet, his leg not even looking the slightest bit twisted. 'Light attack…light attack…' One he hadn't used before. 'I can't just come up with one out of the blue!' It took training, planning, picking out a cool sounding name.

By now Suzuka knew he couldn't take on his doppelganger physically and come out with all his bones unbroken, so he ran.

Shishi had already disengaged and raced towards him, both putting their backs to each other. "Let's hope this works a second time, or we're…" Shishi let the sentence hang, neither of them wanted to think about that.

Tense, they waited as their doppelgangers came closer. They circled like vultures, but came no closer. "You think they know?" Suzuka asked.

"Looks like it." Shishi replied unhappily. The doppelganger's finally moved, Shishi and Suzuka ducked, rolling away. They quickly regained their feet, their outlook on the fight a lot gloomier.

Both doppelgangers had missed each other by mere inches. They stood still for a few seconds before turning their way.

"We need a new plan," Shishi said.

"I can see that." Suzuka replied grimly. He definitely had a few broken bones; moving was painful, breathing was painful, but he supposed at least he didn't have blood pouring from a wound so close to his heart. 'We need to finish this soon. Shishi won't last much longer without healing.' Which brought them back around to those attacks.

Suzuka ducked, striking out at his doppelganger with a kick, a kick that was easily blocked, his foot grabbed, and then he was flying through the air, striking the ground opposite hard, then the flying happened again, and this time he struck the wall before sliding to the hard ground.

"Chorus of a Thousand skulls!"

The attack hit Suzuka's doppelganger from behind, forcing the copy to let go of Suzuka, who struggled to his feet and moved away, barely managing to dodge the stronger version Shishi's doppelganger used.

"Shishi, we need to-" Suzuka's eyes grew wide as he watched one of the skulls strike down his friend. More converged on him.

"Shishi!" Suzuka stumbled forward, hurrying to get to his friend, but his doppelganger soon stood in his way. Suzuka gritted his teeth. "Get out of my way!" With a burst of strength, Suzuka sent his copy flying with a punch. He quickly turned to head in Shishi's direction, his pace quickening when he saw Shishi's doppelganger slamming a leg over and over against Shishi's wound, a sword raised to finish him off.

"Rainbow Cyclone!"

Shishi's doppelganger looked up in time to be struck by Suzuka's attack and hurled away.

"Shishi get up!" Suzuka stumbled to his knees beside his friend. "We can't let these cardboard copies finish us off!"

Shishi struggled to open his eyes, giving Suzuka a pained smile. "That's…what I keep telling myself." He would have struggled to his feet, but Suzuka's doppelganger landed hard on him, then sent Suzuka flying with a powerful kick.

'Damn…it!' Shishi's hands dug at the dirt beneath him, desperate for a hold to help him get out from underneath the doppelganger. 'We promised…them…we…' He sucked in a pained breath when his own doppelganger sunk his blade into his stomach.

"Get away from him!" Suzuka painfully struggled to his feet, taking a stumbling step forward. He could see his doppelganger getting off Shishi and heading his way. He knew he should move, but all he could see was the other copy readying himself to take down Shishi.

A fist slammed into his face, Suzuka tumbled to the ground, grunting as his doppelganger proceeded to use him as a soccer ball. 'This can't be how it ends!'

Too bad Fay wasn't around; it was this kind of stuff that made her flare up with that power.

In his mind he could hear Genkai's words, but he had been desperately trying to call on whatever power he had deep inside himself for a while now. He knew that Shishi had been trying the same thing, but all that had answered were their own attacks, and neither had been super powered.

A leg slammed against the side of his pelvis, Suzuka felt more than heard his bones breaking before he was airborne again.

He tried standing once he'd hit the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain. 'What's all this hidden power worth if I can't even use it to protect us!' If he'd been able too, he'd beat the ground…or his opponent, too bad he just didn't' have the strength.

'Shishi! I have to…' He managed enough leverage to catch sight of Shishi managing to get out from under his doppelganger before the blade slammed into his heart, but Suzuka could see he was exhausted. It was in his sluggish movements, in the way he tripped and fell back down.

'No!' before Suzuka could even attempt to get up, his doppelganger was back, his foot landing on Suzuka's left arm and breaking the bone. He couldn't even manage the strength to cry out.

'Damn! I can't believe this is how…it…it ends.' If he could only reach that power!

'What the hell does it take to get to it!'

"_What will work for Yusuke won't always work for the rest of you." _Suzuka heard Genkai's voice echo in his head.

"_So don't even attempt it. Instead, find what makes you stronger, what motivates you!" _

Once upon a time, it had been revenge against Toguro, after that it had been his desire to become stronger. Strong enough that no one would be able to humiliate him like Toguro and Genkai once had, but now…now… Suzuka cried out when his copy slammed the heel of his foot against his already broken arm. Anymore of this and he wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer. 'What is it!'

His surroundings slowly receded into complete darkness, the pain faded away, yet he could still see the figure crouching next to him. 'What..?'

She smiled and stretched her hand out to him. _"You know what it is, you already said so yourself, Suzuka. You may not be Yusuke, but you're by no means weak. So get up, we're all counting on you. Your strength is needed to help protect our friends." _

Mustering his strength, Suzuka reached out and took her hand. Everything rushed back into place, and Suzuka found himself on his feet. His doppelganger attacked with a cross strike to his head, but it never made it there. A barrier of blue-green light flared up around him, stopping the attack. Suzuka opened his hand. Resting in it was an intricately carved fish of the same color as the barrier. He smiled, placing the small carving into his pocket; he turned to face his doppelganger.

"I think this is what they mean by turning the tables." He could feel his power surging, coming to his call, and Suzuka knew exactly the attack he would use to bring down this fake. "You should have killed me when you had the chance, now it's too late!" Suzuka stretched out his arm, palm open. "Rainbow Diamond Strike!"

His energy took on the form of sharp diamond knives that reflected colors from within. They struck his doppelganger with enough force to send him flying across the room, the colors bursting into flames that ate at the doppelganger until nothing but ashes were left.

Suzuka smiled smugly. 'And that's how I win this.'

"Mind telling me how you managed that?" Shishi questioned, dodging his copy's blade and retaliating with his own.

"I…just found what makes me stronger." He ran to help Shishi, grabbing the doppelganger by the arm and throwing him away from them both.

"I didn't say I needed your help." Shishi said, catching himself before his knees gave out.

"You don't have too; I can see the blood on your kimono." Suzuka placed himself between Shishi and his doppelganger. "You know you won't be able to fight for much longer. So start thinking."

He engaged Shishi's doppelganger, while his friend hit the ground when a wave of dizziness overcame him. 'If Suzuka can do it so can I.' He just wished he knew exactly what he had to do.

"_Clear your mind, put all distractions aside. All you must concentrate on is reaching that well of power inside you." _He remembered Genkai's words.

Taking a deep breath, he put aside everything that distracted him, the blood he was losing, the pain, the annoyance that Suzuka had reached that power first. 'I can do this.' It wasn't easy reaching the calm state he needed to be in, but he finally sunk into it. In that calmness, he couldn't help but wonder why he should return and let go of this peace.

He felt a hand clamp onto his, even as he knew it was impossible. _"Come on now, that's not how a champion thinks. You rule this power, not the other way around. So snap out of it, that sword of yours is the key."_

He opened his eyes and struggled to his feet. "That's right; it'll take a lot more than just a little blood loss to keep me down."

He poured his energy into the Banshee Shriek; the words coming to his lips even as he felt a different kind of power join his own inside his sword.

"Suzuka, get out of the way!"

'About time.' Suzuka moved away from the doppelganger, who turned his attention to Shishi.

"Now I'll show you why could never beat me!" Shishi buried the tip of his sword into the ground. "Chorus of Imprisoned Souls!"

Flashes of light surged from the hilt of his sword, striking his doppelganger like constant gunfire. Much like Suzuka's, the doppelganger was carried by the force of the attack. It slammed against the wall with enough force that it crumbled behind him, burying the doppelganger and revealing an inky black passageway.

"Impressive." The danger gone, Suzuka fell to the ground, the pain and broken bones he'd ignored before making their presence known. "Do you have enough energy to try getting out of here?"

Shishi toppled to his side, breathing hard. "No."

In the ensuing silence, they caught the sound of footsteps approaching the trapdoor above them, then a figure peeked down at them. "I did find a graveyard, but I didn't think yours would be added soon, Suzuka." She called down.

"Ha, ha, ha!" Suzuka laughed sarcastically. "Please tell me your skills include healing."

"Not to the degree that you need, but I do have a strong healer with me."

Another figure peeked in. "We need to get them out of there first, Guardian."

There was a long drawn out sigh. "Make me do all the work."

* * *

Both Chu and Rinku had been unable to avoid the green mist that collapsed down on them. Holding their breath had only worked for a few seconds. Rinku had finally given up and taken a deep breath, only to feel a haze beginning to take over his mind. 'Not this again!' He grabbed his head, doing his best to fight of the effect.

Chu found he could fight off the effect better than Chu. 'Better not dawdle around with this one.' A rope of green mist lashed out at him, Chu brought his arm up to cover his face, the rope wrapped around his arm and tightened while at the same time trying to drag him forward.

"No need to be so rough, all you had to do was ask!" Chu ran towards Dante, hitting him head on, only to have him turn into mist.

"Where you go off to bloke!" he called into the mist. He tried grabbing the rope and breaking it, but his hand closed on nothing. 'Can't exactly grab mist, can I.' He doubted the rope was just there to look pretty, which meant he had to get it off quickly. "I thought we were fighting, not playing hide n seek!"

"True, but I find I like playing with my food before I eat it." Dante said.

Chu turned in the direction the voice came from.

"So you're one of those, eh?" he had to keep him talking.

"I wasn't…before, but I find it's rather enjoyable." Dante laughed.

Chu heard Rinku struggle, as if something had caught him.

"Get your hands of me!"

'Got em!' Chu raced forward and burst out of the mist, surprising Dante who dangled Rinku by the scruff of his shirt. Chu landed a solid punch, forcing Dante let go of Rinku and sending him sprawling to the ground.

"You okay, Rinku?" Chu asked.

Rinku nodded as he coughed. "Yeah, but I don't know how much longer I can hold out." He shut eyes that seemed to be turning the same color as the mist.

"Enough with the games, bludger." Chu pointed at Dante who was getting to his feet. "You and me in a one on one brawl; winner walks away alive."

"I suppose you want me to let go of him." Dante jerked his head to Rinku, who was on his knees, hands to his throat.

"Of course." He raised the arm chained by the misty rope. "An take this off while ye're at it, or do yah need a handicap to win?"

Dante stared at him in silence, before he grinned, showing fangs. "Fine. I'll get rid of you first; it'll be easy enough to bring the small one down after I'm done with you."

Dante snapped his fingers. Mist rolled out from inside Rinku, who let out a long breath before collapsing. The rope around Chu's arm slid away, joining the mist that seeped back into Dante, while the rest that roiled around them gathered into different large streamers. "Just so you know, you won't last long."

'We'll see bout that.' Chu readied himself, the moment he felt the streamers close in, he moved. His movements caused the streams of mist to miss him time and again. Knowing one wrong move could cost him, Chu pulled out the bottle containing ogre killer.

He drank it in one go, letting its effect spread through his body even as he continued to dodge. He could see it was getting to Dante; his moves became more agitated, his eyes moving constantly to try to find him.

"Ye're aim's off, bloke." Before Dante could turn, Chu struck. He'd been aiming for the horns, but Dante had been fast enough to move the few inches, so that his fist hit the side of his head.

The boy crashed into the ground hard, his chin breaking the floor beneath him.

"That punch knock some sense into yah?"

Dante climbed to his feet, rubbing his jaw. Instead of speaking, he snarled, his arms moving in quick motions. The mist responded, slamming into the spot Chu had occupied.

"Stop running!" Dante snarled, his head unintentionally jerking to his left.

"I'm right here."

Dante found himself thrown down the hallway by Chu's kick. He slammed against a pillar near the stairs and fell to the ground, the pillar broke, half of it falling over his lower body.

"Ready to listen, drongo?" Chu stopped a few feet from him, crouching.

The green in Dante's eyes swirled. "I have no reason to listen to you!" he snarled, struggling to get out from under the heavy pillar.

"I thought you wanted to see Fay, happy. I'd think that meant fighting off this crazy bizz."

Dante let out a bark of cold laughter, his fingers attempting to gauge holes on the floor. "You don't understand!" he hissed through gritted teeth. "I am this! I have always been this! My father made sure I would reach my full potential before I tore his head off and crushed his horns!"

The green mist seeped out of his body, his flesh tearing and shriveling away. "And now I will send you to join him!"

Seeing no alternative, Chu reached for the horns atop Dante's head. He pulled at the same time Dante was consumed by the green mist.

Suddenly instead of holding on to a boy's horns, Chu found himself clinging to one of two thick horns, the rest of his body strung down the front of a large beast. The beast was twice his size, and looked a lot like a lion in form, but instead of having fur he had thick crimson scales, while the eyes, one of which Chu found himself staring into, were reptilian. The jaws were large and thick, the teeth about the size of Chu's arm, and as sharp as knives.

'Crikey!' Chu let go of the horn, hit the ground, and leapt back when Dante lashed out at him. Chu had to keep moving as Dante raced after him, trying to grab him.

'Alright then, if that's the way you wanna play it…' Chu stopped running, turned and threw a right jab. His fist connected with the scales on the lower jaw, and although his bones didn't crack, Chu felt the pain right down to them. 'That didn't go as planned.' He retreated, building up his attack as he evaded the beast that Dante had become. The sphere of energy in his hands grew rapidly, until he had to stop, raising his hands up to hold the energy in place. "Catch!"

Chu didn't actually expect Dante to do so, but he did. Dante caught the large sphere of energy like a dog would catch a ball and bit down on it, swallowing it whole before opening his mouth and letting the energy stream out like flames from a dragon.

'That's unexpected.' Chu hit the floor, rolling away from his returned attack. 'I'm all outta ammo and the bloke's still going…' On hindsight, maybe using up all his energy in one attack hadn't been the best decision.

'Looks like I'm down to one option.' With a shout, he ran to meet Dante, but instead of trying to fight him head on, he leapt, twisting in the air to land on his back, in between the two large horns. He grabbed a hold of the right one and pulled.

Dante roared, shaking his head violently to try dislodging Chu from his place. "Sorry bludger, but I ain't ready to cark it just yet!" Tightening his hold on the horn and bracing himself against the shaking, Chu attempted to break the first of two horns.

* * *

"_Rinku." _

Rinku wrinkled his nose at the smell clinging to his clothes, his eyes opened to half mast. 'What…happened?'

'_You're going to miss your chance to fight the bad guy.' _

That roused him a little more, but he still felt a little weak. 'That's right, Dante used that stuff… Ah, man! I can't believe I fainted like some normal little kid!' He also couldn't believe it was proving so difficult just to get to his feet. 'I don't care if it is that smelly stuff! I'm not going to be beaten that easily!'

The sound of an exasperated sigh reached him, and though he couldn't see who made it, he recognized the voice. _'I'll give you a hand up Rinku, but you'll have to stand on your own, got it?'_

The moment he nodded, it was as if a dam on his power had been opened. He stood, feeling his power surge. "Okay, I can take it from here." His yoyos began a slow swing back and forth as he let them go.

"Chu, get out of the way!" he shouted.

Chu turned in Rinku's direction at the sound of his voice. "Nice to see you're up. But this here is still my fight!"

"I don't think you clinging to him like that is called fighting." Rinku shouted. "So just get out of the way! Trust me!"

Dante began shaking himself, trying to dislodge Chu again. Making a quick decision, Chu let go of the horn and jumped, hitting the ground running.

Behind him, Dante turned, his legs tensing to break into a run, but at the last moment a large yoyo struck him, sending him flying, only to be hit by another yoyo going the opposite side.

"Where'd you learn the new trick?" Chu asked, caming to a stop next to Rinku.

"Like it?" Rinku smiled smugly. "I call it Yoyo Pendulum." The large yoyos, whose strings appeared from high above the dark ceiling, did look like pendulums as they swung back and forth in the lower hall, continuously sending Dante to the ground before he could take more than a step forward. "Fay gave me a hand up,' he grinned. "But I'm standing on my own."

"Is that so,' Chu let out a loud laugh. "Sounds like a ripper idea." He no longer had the ogre killer, but for his he wouldn't need it. It took some effort on his part, but finally Chu felt his power swell up from deep, turning into a red aura around him.

"Rinku, call of your yoyos."

Rinku looked up at him. "What? Aah, don't tell me you're going to make me sit out while you fight."

"This is still my brawl." Chu answered. "And I plan on finishing it."

Rinku sighted, rolling up his yoyos. "Fine, but the moment you get your butt kicked I'm taking over."

"You'll be waiting awhile then!" With a shout, Chu charged Dante, who was finally gaining his feet now that the yoyos weren't knocking him down. He turned in Chu's direction and roared, running to meet the other man. "Let's try this again!"

Chu avoided the sharp teeth that snapped at his body, and rammed a fist into Dante's jaw. This time the attack cracked scales and jerked the large head to the left. "Have another!"

His next punch jerked the head further, so that there was a snapping sound. The scales on Dante's face shattered, exposing grey skin. He tumbled to the ground, his head snapping back around to glare at Chu with venomous eyes.

"Your new power will not change your fate." The voice that rumbled out from within Dante was much deeper, with an edge of a lion's roar in it.

"Then stop your yapping an fight!" Chu attacked again, only this time his fist hit the floor.

"Chu, above you!" Rinku shouted.

A large shadow fell over him. Chu darted to the right just as Dante's scaled paws hit his last standing place. The two combatants moved, attacking each other with fists, legs, teeth, and claws.

'They're going so fast…' Rinku rapidly blinked, trying to keep his eyes on them. 'I can just barely keep up with them.' He winced when Dante made a deep gash on Chu's lower right arm appear.

"Chu!" Rinku yelled. "Stop playing around! Finish him off before half of you ends up in his mouth!" He cringed when what he'd said almost happened. 'Maybe I shouldn't have said that.'

"One Hundred Strikes!" Chu's new attack was so fast, all Rinku could keep up with were five hits, then Dante went flying, the scales shattering into fine dust. He didn't attempt standing up again once he hit the floor.

Breathing deeply, Chu approached the downed monster. "Looks like I win, bloke." Though he didn't feel particularly happy with this victory. He jumped onto Dante's head, leaning down he grabbed a hold of one of the horns, but hesitated. He could still remember Fay crying over this particular fella.

Beneath him, the flesh began to dry and crack, as if there was still something else inside this demon.

"Chu, finish it! If he gets any stronger I'm going to have take over!" Chu knew this was Rinku's way of telling him they might not be able to defeat Dante.

"Sorry mate, but you brought this on yourself." He broke the horn even as another head reared up from inside the old one, this one more compact, but the neck attached to it was a whole lot longer and white. Dante roared in true pain, lowering his head so that his new arm could reach Chu. Chu grabbed the last horn, tearing it off; he jumped off the head, hitting the ground heavily.

Above him, Dante roared as green misty liquid flowed freely from his horns, the white of his body yielding to a grey that overcame him, rapidly turning flesh into dust, the large bones hollowly falling to the ground in a pile.

Breathing hard, his wounds stinging, Chu sat while Rinku ran up to him. "You know…I kinda feel sorry for him." He said into the silence that descended.

"The bloke just couldn't keep it up." Chu murmured.

The thick pile of bones moved, making the two tense. "Don't tell me he's not dead, you turned him into a pile of bones!" Tense, both watched as a bone rolled from the top of the pile, a hand appearing in the niche it left behind. More bones scattered as Dante tiredly climbed out, horns broken near his skull, the wings he'd once possessed nothing more than thin bones hanging from his back.

Chu tiredly stood, waiting for an attack, while beside him Rinku brought out his yoyos.

The boy looked up at them with a grateful smile. "Thank you for freeing me,' he took a step forward. "Make Yusuke and Kurama keep their…promise…" His knees buckled under him. Before either could react, his hair bleached, turning into dust, the rest of his body followed until nothing but a pile of white dust remained.

"Maybe…he was stronger than we gave him credit." Rinku whispered.

The echoing sound of steps reached them, and she appeared. "So…anyone in need of healing?"

"I'm fine," Rinku pointed at Chu who'd sat back down, legs crossed. "But I don't think he could get up again if he tried."

"Watch it, yah ankle biter." Chu would have raised an arm to pull Rinku's hat down, but he just didn't have the strength…at the moment.

"You heard them. The tall one needs healing,' Mary Anne turned to the stranger with her. "Take care of it and let's get going."

* * *

Koenma leaned back on his comfy chair and let out a sigh. "That was intense, I was holding my breath."

Beside him, George was still cheering for their team. "Those new attacks were great; don't you think so, sir?"

"They were; I just wish they had learned them before all this began." It was a good thing that Mary Anne and whoever her companion was, had shown up. Otherwise they'd very likely be down three fighters.

'I don't know if I should be happy they broke the rules of the war or not.' On one hand, they were the enemy, on the other…Mary Anne enforced the rules for a reason. 'Her own experience with breaking them is very likely at the root of it all.'

It also meant that if their group didn't bring down the whole faction, which it looked like they might, Mary Anne would most likely finish wiping them out. According to the file they had on her and what they'd been told by both the Wizards and Amalthea, she'd done it before, wiping out the whole Centaurian Faction when they'd broken a minor rule. 'I hope she at least lets the one who helped the girls go.'

All this worrying was making him hungry. "Ogre."

George turned to him. "Yes sir?"

"Go fetch me some food, make sure you get squid on a stick."

"But sir,' George protested. "I'll miss the rest of the fights."

Koenma shot him a glare. "Then I suggest you do it quickly! If you come back with the food after the fights are over, again, I will assign you to the lake of blood cleaning crew, this time!"

"On my way, sir!" George shouted as he sped out the door.

* * *

Puu had left the boys when they'd reached the cemetery grounds, flying away without being noticed. He'd hovered high up for a while, then taken off again, headed for the woods outside the area affected by the hellborn spells. He descended as the trees grew in size and became thicker, landing on a tree trunk. Standing perfectly still, he waited there for about ten minutes, unblinking gaze on a moss covered rock.

Finally the moss covered rock was moved to the side by an unseen force, revealing a dimly lit entrance. Wind stirred, exiting the passageway before solidifying into a form in armor.

"It's safe." She called into the passageway.

Other figures carefully stepped out of the passageway, one of them being a brown hair girl.

"Puu!" The group turned in his direction as he took flight; landing in Keiko's outstretched arms. "Puu, you came to find us." Keiko smiled and cuddled him to her.

"Guess it means Yusuke and the others should be in that building by now." Shizuru said, looking in that direction.

"Will we wait for them here?" Yukina asked.

"No,' Kyro shook his head. "We may be safe for the moment, but Emma might decide to expand the spell. We'll keep going for a while longer; I know a place where we'll be safe until the rest of your friends join us."

"Then let's go." Juri said, looking around at the shadows the forest cast. "Before something creepy jumps out at us again." She was not going to try drowning anything else again…not that it had worked the first time.

"Follow me, and stay together." Kyro led them once again, lighting their way.

Botan couldn't help looking back the way they'd come…or at least in that general direction. 'Try not to get killed boys; we'll be waiting for all of you.'

"Botan, is something wrong?" Keiko asked noticing her friend wasn't following

Botan shook her head, catching up to her. "Just wondering how the boys are doing, and Fay. I hope they're all okay."

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. They're all together after all." Keiko reassured her.

"You're right, Keiko. Let's go." The two quickened their pace, catching up to the rest of their party.

_Next Chapter Preview_

_"And now the real fun begins."_

_"We're trapped on both sides?"_

_"I'm going now, little sister."_

_"I only did what I had to, nothing more."_


	45. Chapter 45: Emma

Chapter 44: Emma

The two women came at them in a zigzag pattern, their speed so great that Touya found it hard to keep up with. He barely had enough time to bring up the ice sword he'd created, blocking Nerina's blade. She quickly disengaged, tilting her sword that, before he could block again, had sliced into his side. Touya jerked himself away before the sword could dig in deeper, a hand going to cover his wound.

'I can't match her in speed, her sword play is better than mine...' He gritted his teeth watching her warily. 'She could kill me any moment, so...what is she waiting for?' He didn't wait for an answer.

Touya called up more power, freezing the ground beneath them, yet the ice didn't stop there, it crawled up Nerina's legs to her thighs, and further up until only her head remained unfrozen.

'She's not doing anything, anyone else would be struggling.' It gave Touya pause, there was definitely something wrong here. Something he had to figure out before it meant their deaths.

Above the two, another battle took place. Kuronue was better at keeping up with the second Nerina's speed, their blades flashing as they clashed against each other again and again. Nerina found herself having to retreat and evade the scythe as it swung out at her, its movement almost erratic.

Kuronue pushed his advantage, until Nerina managed to get through his guard. His wings rapidly flapped, moving him a few inches to the right, missing the point of Nerina's blade by inches.

"You have her power inside you." Nerina said, her gaze following Kuronue.

"That doesn't concern you." He replied coldly, the scythe swinging at the end of the thin chain.

"It concerns us,' this time her voice echoed, as on the ground her sister matched her words. "Because that power belongs to our Queen."

"Don't worry; your disappointment won't last long!" Kuronue swung, reeling it back in when Nerina blocked before striking out again, the scythe aiming for a vital point, then another and another.

The next swing of the scythe, Nerina didn't manage to evade as well, the blade cut through the bone on her wing, though she did little more than gasp in surprise.

Kuronue pulled back at the thin chain, then let it swing out with greater force. Blood splattered as the scythe sunk into Nerina's ribcage, coming out her back. Nerina's eyes widened, but as before, she did little else.

"Looks like that armor wasn't enough to protect you from me." Kuronue said, tone cool. He jerked at the chain and the scythe left her body.

Nerina's body dropped, landing on the icy ground with a loud thud that cracked the ice.

At the same time, the Nerina trapped in ice went limp, the sword in her hands falling to the ground.

'It's...over.' Touya thought, disbelief in his eyes. 'I barely managed to keep up with her, but he finished it without breaking a sweat.' Touya had believed that he and Kuronue were at about the same level of power; to discover that he'd been wrong...it left him feeling just a little...

"Touya, the horns!" Kuronue called to him.

Touya mentally shook himself. 'This just means I have to work harder, I will get stronger.' For now, they had a fight to finish.

Touya used his ice blade to break both horns atop Nerina's head in one quick strike, while Kuronue carefully approached the other woman, bringing his scythe up to break her horns.

Her eyes snapped open, a hidden knife arrowing it's way at Kuronue.

He jumped back so that the blade just barely nicked his chin, a drop of blood falling away.

The one who's horns Touya had cut began to fade, a smirk appearing on her lips before she disappeared.

'She was just an illusion?' Touya felt blood seeping from his wound. 'But how could an illusion have done me any damage?'

He watched as the other Nerina stood, retrieving her blade.

She grinned, showing sharp teeth. "And now the real fun begins." She raised a sword covered in blood.

"Whatever you're doing, I won't give you time to finish!" Kuronue ran forward but the corridor suddenly twisted, disoriented him, so that he had to stop.

The woman in front of him burst into ivy green flames, the flames flaring high above them, turning into a face that laughed down at them.

"They fell so easily, sister." The right side of the face spoke.

"The tall one did cause some problems; perhaps we should eat him first." The left side of the face spoke.

Both Touya and Kuronue found themselves scooped up by hands made of flames, and brought closer to the face.

"Struggle all you want,' both sides of the face spoke together. "You will never escape us. We are all around you, we are invincible."

"I find that hard to believe." Touya brought his hand up. "Shards of Winter!"

The attack went through the fiery face, hissing as the ice melted.

"This has to be an illusion!" Touya insisted, as if trying to convince himself.

"I know,' Kuronue responded. "But the problem is; how do we get out of it?" All their struggles were accomplishing nothing.

"Let's eat them both." The right side of the face said.

The other grinned. "Good idea."

The mouth opened, and although both struggled to not let it happen, they found themselves swallowed.

* * *

Touya woke up to find himself on a dirt ground, the corridor completely gone. Instead, he was inside a cave, the walls decorated by skeletons half stuck inside them, bone hands reaching out as if to grab him. Here and there, Touya could also see skeletons poking out of the ground.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, within a deeper illusion." Kuronue answered.

He was sitting near Touya, his back to him.

Touya stood, braced for the pain of his wound, but when none came he looked down at his side, passing a hand over uncut skin. 'Then...was that another illusion?' Turning his attention to their surroundings, he carefully examined them.

To his left and right stretched out paths leading into darkness. "Wherever we may be, we need to find a way out of this place. We should try one of those paths."

Kuronue shook his head, standing. "I already tried both. I can only go a couple of feet into them, then it's like running into a thick wall."

"We're trapped on both sides?"

Kuronue nodded. "Yes."

Touya headed down the left passage. "Then it doesn't matter which one we take, as long as we get through one."

Kuronue silently followed him until a few inches from the barrier. Touya kept going, bouncing back as he hit it.

His eyes narrowed in determination. "I am not dying in a place like this, wither its illusion or not." He ran at the barrier, using his shoulder to slam into it.

A half smile appeared on Kuronue's lips. "I guess that's my cue." Copying Touya, he rammed into the wall, ignoring the energy that began to crackle from it, hitting them like miniature lightning bolts.

They hit the barrier together, again, and again. Finally it broke down under their assault.

Although his shoulder hurt, Touya smiled in triumph. "Let's go."

The pair hadn't taken more than a few steps when an odd clanking sound reached them. They stopped, their stances wary.

From the darkness of the tunnel stepped out droves of skeletal beings in old Japanese armor, the bones of their hands wielding katanas, while behind them, the second barrier fell, letting in more skeletons.

The two set themselves back to back. "Looks like we'll have to get rid of them before we can find a way out."

Touya nodded. "Then let's try to make it quick." Both knew that the numbers they were up against would make a quick win almost impossible, but neither said so.

"Let's go!" Touya let fly his shards of winter, the attack piercing armor. The ice brought a few down, but they quickly stood advancing once more.

Behind him, Kuronue was having more luck, using his scythe to slice through bone and armor, bringing the skeletons down permanently, only to be replaced.

'Looks like I'm going to have to get in closer.' Ice circled Touya's hand, solidifying into a sword that he used to cut down the skeletons, even as he dodged their clumsy attempts at attacking him. 'At this rate, it won't be their skills that bring us down, but their numbers.' He ducked to avoid a blade and cut the offending skeleton in half.

'There must be something else; all of this...it feels off to me.'

It was a difficult feat to keep fighting, dodging, and trying to figure out what was really going on, but Touya managed it knowing as before, that if they couldn't figure out a way out of this, they were as good as dead.

'What is it...what about this feels wrong?' He thought back, recalling the battle from the start to this point. He hesitated, his memories coming to him muddled.

"Touya! Concentrate!" Kuronue's blade flew past his shoulder, bringing down the skeleton about to cut his head off.

Touya jumped back, sweat running down his face. "Thanks." He tossed over his shoulder.

"Whatever you're thinking about, think faster." Kuronue brought his blade around in an arc, cutting down his opponents. "I don't want to have to explain to the others why you died."

Kuronue made an annoyed sound. "I can feel myself in reality, but it's almost as if I'm trapped in between sleep and waking. I'm aware, but at the same time dreaming. Does that help at all?"

"I'm not sure." Touya responded, moving to his left, then jumping over a blade. "Let me think it over."

'That tells us we are trapped in an illusion,' Touya blocked another katana. 'But it doesn't tell us how to get out of this place.' He turned to another incoming enemy, kicking out with his foot at yet another.

'My memories aren't clear; it's as if they've...been taped over messily.' And that posed another problem...which were the true memories?

Breathing heavily, Touya retreated from the skeletons. 'They just keep coming.' He felt Kuronue at his back, his own breathing coming rapidly.

"I keep feeling my strength drain a lot more rapidly than it should." Kuronue said in between deep breaths. "At this rate I'll be the first to fall."

"Just hang on." Touya encouraged. "We will find a way out of this place."

Kuronue's knees hit the ground, sweat sliding down his skin. 'This…shouldn't be happening.' He had his own strength, plus he also had the power Fay had poured into him when she'd healed him. He had too much power in reserve to be feeling this weak and tired so soon into a battle.

"Kuronue get up! They may be slow but they're still coming."

Kuronue struggled to his feet, wiping sweat from his chin. "I know. I just needed to catch my breath."

Touya turned back to his own fight, readying himself to block and attack. 'He won't last much longer; I have to find out what we keep missing!'

"_Touya, it's time you got up now." _

The voice echoed in his mind, stilling him for a few seconds. Then he was bringing up his sword to cut down another skeleton. As he did, Genkai's words poured into his mind.

"_If you find yourself cornered by your enemy and wondering how it happened, then you came into the battle already underestimating them. At which point you have two choices: get off your ass and use that lump in your head to turn the tables on the enemy, or stand there gawking and get killed. Unless you have a death wish, I suggest you go with the first." _

"_Touya, wake up!"_

His eyes flew open, taking a moment to adjust to the dim light of the corridor. 'The corridor! We broke the illusion.' The first thing Touya did was asses their situation.

Both he and Kuronue hung a few feet from the floor, their bodies trapped by threads.

If one weren't looking for them carefully and intently, they would be easily missed. Yet for their frail appearance, the threads were amazingly strong. One of those threads wrapped from his right hand to Kuronue's left; easily seen since their blood ran down it, mingling in the middle where it dripped to the ground.

Not that far from them stood their two opponents who seemed to have the same name. 'Neither of them is an illusion, they're both real.'

"Should we kill them both?" One of them asked.

"No,' the other answered, her voice the exact match of her sister's. "We can kill the blue haired one, but the other, the threads can only block his power. If we kill him then what he holds inside will vanish. We'll leave him to Emma, once she devours him, his power will be hers." The two giggled, sending shivers down Touya's spine. No doubt Kuronue's too.

"But we can kill and eat the blue haired one, right?" one of them asked.

"Yes." The other answered, a smile to her voice.

'I can't believe I was tricked so cleverly by someone so...insane.' Touya thought in disbelief.

His true memories had returned, and now he understood. Both he and Kuronue had been trapped in an illusion, within an illusion, within a third illusion. 'I've never met someone who could pull something like this off.'

The first illusion had taken place at the very beginning of the battle, seconds after his ice barrier had gone up.

The threads that now trapped them had somehow been snapped into place the moment he'd put up the ice barrier. One of them had cut his cheek, another his hand. Kuronue's wings had tangled in them, opening up various cuts. Their blood had become the first ingredient in their fall.

'We lost the first round before we'd even begun.' The threads had also been laced with a powerful odorless sleeping dust. The moment it had entered their blood stream, it had quickly worked to make them loose consciousness.

That's when the first illusion took over, making them believe they had just begun the fight, in addition to locking away their memories. The second illusion happened when the two women turned into that fiery face and 'swallowed' them. The third illusion was them being trapped in that cave.

'We were so...stupid.' Touya carefully looked over at Kuronue to find the other glancing his way.

Hoping Kuronue knew how to read lips, Touya silently but carefully moved only his lips.

"_It seems that we were careless." _

"_Yes,' _Kuronue replied._ "Exceedingly so. We were complete dimwits...Yusuke would be proud." _

Touya stopped himself from smiling._ "I'm sorry. They used our blood to not only link us, but keep us under. It was my weakness that kept both of us trapped in that illusion for so long." _

Kuronue would have shrugged, but remembered at the last second not too. _'It wasn't a weakness, it was a mistake, learn from it. Actually, I'm kind of jealous."_

Touya glanced up at his eyes in question.

"_Your willingness to right the situation is what called her to you. I heard her voice,' _Kuronue responded to the question in Touya's eyes._ "But it was obviously directed at you...Perhaps it was I whom was the weak one." _

Touya wasn't certain how to respond to that, so he changed the subject. _"It's high time we turned the tables on them. I have an idea on how to do that, care to hear it?'_

"_I'm listening." _Kuronue answered.

The icy wind that swept up around them recalled the twins' attention to their prey. The blue haired one was struggling, as in the midst of a nightmare.

Nerina chuckled. " Look Nerine, this one struggles even in his dreams."

"Nightmares, sister. Nightmares," Nerine laughed. "And we are the ultimate nightmare." She turned to Nerina. "Shall we kill him and end his suffering, or...shall we plunge him deeper into his own personal hell?"

"Oooh,' Nerina cooed. "The second sounds like so much fun!"

The two stepped towards their prey, dismissing the icy wind that now clung to the threads holding the two up.

"Now, Kuronue!" Touya shouted.

Kuronue broke free of the threads, reaching around his waist; he unwound his scythe and let it fly at Nerina.

In their shock, the two stood still. It was a mistake, and in Nerine's case, a deadly one.

Kuronue's scythe sliced clean through her horns, missing the top of her head by inches. She went down screaming, while her sister shouted her name, then whirled to face them, swirling anger in her eyes.

Touya landed neatly on his feet, his threads finally severed. "Winter Spikes!"

Before Nerina could reach them, the spikes sprung up from the ground, impaling her body and immobilizing her.

Wasting no time, Touya called up his next attack. "Ice Blades!" This time, when he blew into his palm, it was blades made of the finest ice that flew outward, cutting off Nerina's horns long before she could manage to free herself. Her screams of rage abruptly cut off, green liquid pouring from what was left of her horns.

A subtle transformation took place then: Nerina's eyes cleared, her face softened.

"Sis...ter...I'm...scared." She whispered brokenly.

The spikes impaling her body shattered, turning into icy wind. Kuronue caught Nerina before she hit the ground.

Nerina looked up at him and smiled. "You freed us, thank...thank you." Her hand fumbled, as if in search of something. "My...my sister."

Kuronue carried Nerina to her sister; Touya joining him on Nerine's other side.

"Nerine..." Nerina reached for her sister's hand, griping it tightly when it was placed atop hers.

"I'm right here, Nerina."

Nerine smiled serenely, her eyes closing. "I'm going now, sister. Let's met again...in...a...better life." Her last breath left her body, Nerina stilled.

Nerine gripped her sister's hand tightly until it turned to dust in her hand.

"Will you be alright?" Touya asked, still unable to understand what had happened.

Nerine shook her head, white tears dripping from her eyes. Like her sister, green misty liquid also ran from what was left of her horns.

"I only linger because I have no wounds." Nerine gripped Touya's sleeve tightly. "Listen to me, you must kill Emma. You must make sure that there is no doubt of it this time. It was her; she placed the curse of insanity on our people so very long ago. Our ancestors thought her dead, but she only hid; sleeping and waiting for the day she could awake.

"We foolishly woke her, believing in our insanity that she was our Goddess, but she is a monster intent on spreading her disease to all! Please, I beg of you! I know that we brought our fates down upon ourselves, and I know that I am a stranger to you, but-"

Her frenzied words came to a halt as she gasped for breath, her skin beginning to pale.

"We won't let her win, we promise." Touya assured her.

Nerine smiled even as her eyes closed. Her body lost all color, seconds later turning to dust.

"This victory tastes...bitter." Touya said quietly.

Kuronue stood. "Let's go. We have a promise to keep."

Touya nodded, standing as well.

"In your condition you'll only end up dead." The two turned as Mary Anne stepped into the light.

"We won't go back on our word." Touya replied stubbornly.

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. "Look boys, by now there are four fighters facing off against Emma. You'll have to trust them to keep your promise, because if you do join them, you'll only get yourselves killed, and you,' she turned to Kuronue. "Will only provide her another tasty yet invigorating meal. Not to mention that you're both dripping blood, especially you." Mary Anne pointed at Touya's side.

That wound, he had been unhappy to find, had been real. "You expect us to just sit and wait-"

"I said sit!" Mary Anne pointed at them, then the ground. The two found themselves obeying her without even meaning too.

"You'll have to trust Yusuke and those with him to help you keep that promise. Isn't that one of the things friendship entails?"

"Yes,' Kuronue finally admitted. "But it doesn't mean we're happy about it."

'Like I care.' Mary Anne thought. She just knew that if she didn't keep these idiots from dying, there were two beings in particular that would never let her hear the end of it.

"Hey,' she called into the darkness. "Fix up these two, will you."

A strange girl stepped out of the shadows. "Of course."

* * *

They were too well matched. Neither gave an inch, every attack had a purpose, no move was ever wasted. The two combatants broke apart, circling each other warily.

"You're not insane, so don't expect me to underestimate you based on such a weak ruse," Genkai said.

Attor's lips twisted into a half smile. "What makes you so sure?"

"No insane person could fight so well, calculating their every move. So tell me,' Genkai stepped to her left, watching carefully for the slightest opening. "Why is it that you let your younger sister,' the last two words held a trace of mockery in them, "commit such heinous crimes?"

"For the very reason you just mentioned," he replied. "She is my younger sister. When the spell was broken upon the rest of us, she was left behind in that world of insanity. What was I suppose to do, abandon her to such a grisly fate?"

"No, you're supposed to put her over your knee and spank it out of her if you must. Barring that, finding a way to cure her would also work."

Attor scoffed. "There was none. Not even what broke our curse worked for her. I...truly had no choice." His eyes narrowed, determination in them. "I would never leave my sister trapped in such a violent world. If she must walk it, I will walk it beside her."

"Admirable,' Genkai replied. "But as strong as you are, your foolish loyalty has blinded you to the truth."

Attor stilled. "How so?"

"I can feel that girl's energy, the one you call Emma, from here," she explained. "The energy of siblings often have similarities between them. Your so called sister; her energy has no resemblance to yours. In fact it feels entirely different, older...angrier, evil."

He stood stock still, his very stance speaking of uncertainty. He shook his head angrily. "I will not fall for your tricks, woman!" He charged her.

Genkai braced herself for another round of fighting, but just as he was about to reach her, one of his shoes slipped on the floor by inches, creating an opening.

Genkai took full advantage of it.

His horns slammed against the wall, his body thudding to the ground.

"You may be strong, but you are also foolish." Genkai turned to look down the corridor.

Footsteps echoed, Mary Anne stopped as she entered the light. The guardian's gaze traveled to the downed demon. "Nice job, old lady. You don't even have a scratch on you." She pointed. "But...why?"

Genkai smiled. "I only did what I had to, nothing more."

"I see." Mary Anne turned to the girl accompanying her. "It looks like you won't be needed this time."

Genkai walked past them, heading back down the way they'd come.

"What, not going to help your student?"

"Yusuke has enough help. They will either win or lose, but I have done my part to get them there. It's up to them at this point."

"I hope you don't mind escorting her to safety." Mary Anne headed in the opposite direction. "Unlike you, I do have business to attend to with the leader of this faction. I'll respect your decision on the other matter, simply because it looks like you know what you're doing." Without hurrying, Mary Anne headed for the exit leading out to the courtyard.

'Lucky me.' Genkai thought wryly. "Come on girl, let's go."

* * *

"Such clumsy creatures." Terra nimbly landed on her feet as behind her, the ghoul she'd been fighting thudded to the ground, its body liquefying into a pool of black blood.

Not far from her, Ceres plunged his sword into the ghoul's head. The ghoul's steps faltered, its body cracking cement as it fell.

Ceres jumped away, landing near Terra. "No one ever said they'd been made to be graceful. These are the grunts, the lower level ghouls of the seventh hell."

"True." The two watched the pools of blood disappear before turning their attention to the distant glass house.

"Shall we go aid them?" Ceres wondered.

"No,' Terra turned to head the other way. "That is their battle to fight, not ours. We have escorted them here like Isis requested. It's time we rejoin Firez."

"If you say so." Ceres followed after her. Terra turned into a light that sped out into the distance while Ceres burst into mist that was carried away by the wind.

* * *

"Kuwabara, stop running around and fight dammit!" Yusuke avoided one of Emma's thick arms, ducking beneath it and retaliating with an upper cut that sent her rolling away.

'And here I thought he was gonna be useful.'

"I'm trying, Urameshi! But this thing keeps trying to bite my head off!" Taking advantage of the few seconds Yusuke had bought him, Kuwabara turned, bringing up his sword. Not that it had done him much good before, but maybe if he tried extending it.

He had just finished the thought when Emma came back around, her tail which had grown a blade, lashing out at Yusuke while her upper body came at Kuwabara.

'Why does it keep trying to eat me!'

"Sword get long!" His energy blade extended, growing into Emma's opened jaws, breaking through skin and scales at the back of her head.

She gave an enraged screech, the arms that carried her speeding up, even as her jaws snapped close, breaking Kuwabara's sword.

"It's not dead!" Kuwabara shouted, turning and taking off again. "I just pierced its skull,' he was not acknowledging this thing as a girl, "So why isn't it dead!"

Yusuke grabbed a hold of the tail, yanking hard. "Stupid! We have to get her horns!" Which brought up another problem, how the hell were they supposed to cut off her horns when she just grew more?

The tail he was holding on to jerked, sending him flying. Yusuke hit the ground running.

"Hey, Urameshi! Why don't we change places; you go after the head and I'll-waah!" Kuwabara took a running leap when the end of one of the two snakes blocked his path. He just barely made it, rolling to a stop only to dodge to his left when Emma's jaws clamped shut a little too close for comfort.

Emma's head turned in his direction, her body moving rapidly, jaws open once more.

"Stop staring, idiot! Get outta the way!" Yusuke shouted, running to get to him.

Hiei beat him to it, grabbing Kuwabara by the scruff of his shirt and throwing him at Yusuke.

"Hiei!" Yusuke stepped to the side, avoiding being hit by Kuwabara, concern for Hiei marring his features.

Emma's jaws clamped down, but were held at bay by the barrier that sprung up.

'Oh yeah...he's got Fay's bracelet.' Yusuke let out a relieved sigh even as he ran to help.

One of the snakes intercepted him, hissing as it swiped her tail at him. Yusuke jumped over the snake, landing on the tail and running up the long body. He was about to try his spirit gun when he remembered, he only had two shots left.

'Damn it!' Changing tactics, he struck out at the snake with a kick that slammed her to the ground. He quickly turned his attention back to Hiei, just in time to watch him ram his katana into the roof of Emma's mouth.

She let out a wailing shriek and wrenched herself away, grabbing at the sword stuck in her mouth. The moment one of her arms touched it, spikes sprung up from the blade, cutting into Emma's tough skin, causing black hissing blood to ooze out.

She thrashed around in pain, bringing up another hand to grab at the one stuck thanks to the spikes.

Her trashing caught Kimo on his upper body, forcing him to let go of Kurama's leg. The snake was sent crashing against glass that shattered.

"Nice one, Hiei." Yusuke said, grinning over at his friend.

"Hn! Stop acting like it's over, Yusuke." Hiei's body tensed, ready to move. "They're coming back."

Emma finally managed to yank the blade from her bloody mouth. The hand that had been torn by spikes, she ripped from its connecting limb and threw away.

"Eww! Did you just see that?" Kuwabara wrinkled his nose, disgust in his voice.

"Guess it doesn't matter when you have a couple extra arms to spare," Yusuke said.

As they watched, a new hand sprung up to take the place of the old.

'Or you can do that.' he silently added.

"Move, both of you!" Hiei shouted, already in motion. He grabbed the blade from where it had clattered to the floor, moved to avoid being hit by the returning snake, and brought the sword down on thick scales. Kimo whirled his head around, snapping out at Hiei.

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara had dispersed, heading in different directions. Kuwabara now found himself having to dodge Kitara's quick strikes as well as the green hissing liquid that he would bet was poison, dripping from the snake's fangs.

Kurama's rosewhip wrapped around Emma's throat and squeezed. It snapped in half when Emma's throat thickened, but it distracted her enough that Yusuke was able to strike her with a double punch that threw her away from them both.

"Hey Kurama, don't mean to rush, but if you happen to have any bright ideas, feel free to share." Somewhere to their left another glass pane shattered.

"They're waiting for something," Kurama said.

"Come again?" Yusuke asked.

Kurama's tone was bleak as he explained. "They are not fighting at their full strength, had they; we would be feeling even more hard-pressed than we are now." His eyes followed Emma as she regained her footing. "Remember, these beings are able to use magic. Yet she has done no such thing, choosing instead to use her physical abilities. Either she cannot wield magic...or she awaits something."

"Great,' Yusuke replied grimly, tensing to begin another round of fighting. "So we find out how to beat her now, or we wait and find out what she's up to. Why do I get the feeling that won't be good?"

The two broke apart, leaving Emma to bite into greenery yet untouched. She spit it out and went after Yusuke, her tail lashing out at Kurama.

"I'm done playing around with these fools." Sheathing his katana, Hiei leapt into the air, unwrapping the bandages around his right arm.

'That's an idea.' Yusuke thought. "Kuwabara, follow my lead!" he shouted.

"Fine, but I better not end up as bait again!" Kuwabara ran in Yusuke's direction, while Yusuke headed towards Kimo, who seemed to have lost interest in Hiei and had gone after Kurama.

"Kurama!" Yusuke shouted.

"On my way!" Kurama responded, dodging Kimo's attack and heading in Yusuke's direction.

Soon the trio found themselves ringed by their three larger opponents.

"Anytime Hiei!" Yusuke shouted.

"Then get out of the way!" Hiei shouted down, his arm already wrapped in black flames.

The three took off in different directions, dodging the enemy's attempts at capturing them just as Hiei summoned his attack.

"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

The shouted words caught the attention of the three serpentine creatures; they looked up, just as the dragon descended, engulfing them in black flames that burned them to cinders.

'It worked... Odd, this all seems rather...anticlimactic.' Kurama thought.

"Alright, Hiei!" Yusuke cheered. Unlike Kurama, he didn't seem to think there was anything else to worry about, neither did Kuwabara.

"Yeah, shrimp, nice going." Kuwabara added.

"Hn." Hiei landed back on the ground, his gaze on the silver cage above them. He leapt up, grasping the bars of the cage as he came close, then using his katana to break the lock.

The lock clattered to the floor far beneath, while the door silently swung open.

Hiei stepped into the cage. Ignoring the ominous feeling it gave him, he stooped, picking up Fay in his arms. 'You better not end up sleeping for another week.' He thought, unable to help the worry that crept into his thoughts.

He returned to the cage door, carefully jumping down.

"How is she?" Yusuke asked, joining him.

"Sleeping," Hiei replied.

"That's not new,' Kuwabara said. "But she's not gonna end up sleeping for a month, right?"

Hiei handed her over to Kurama, who knelt on the ground, reaching with one hand into his hair. He brought out a small seed that quickly burst into growth.

"That going to wake her up?" Yusuke asked.

"It should, at close range; this plant lets out a rather strong scent." Kurama placed the plant near Fay's nose.

"Are you sure you got the right plant?" Kuwabara asked after a minute had ticked by and Fay had not so much as twitched.

Kurama's eyes narrowed dangerously, crushing the plant in his fist. "Yes, it is. This is something else altogether."

A cold shiver ran down Kuwabara's spine. He straightened, looking around just as laughter rang out around them, long shadows moving on the remaining glass walls.

**AN: Classes aren't leaving me much time during the week, so I'll do my best to try posting during the weekends. **

**Thanks for the reviews, till next chapter. ^^**

_Next Chapter Preview_

_'We cut her horns, yet it did nothing to her.'_

_"How are we supposed to manage that?"_

_"I'm not giving up that easily!"_

_"I'd rather die fighting than die a coward."_


	46. Chapter 46: An Immortal's Fall

Chapter 45: An immortal's Fall

"It's so good to see my plans falling into place." Emma's voice echoed around them.

"How the hell do you survive Hiei's attack! Don't you know you're supposed to be dead!" Yusuke shouted at the shadows.

Kurama stood, cradling Fay in his arms. "What have you done to her!" he demanded.

"You should be looking at your little friend there."

"We're not stupid you know!" Yusuke shouted. "Hiei didn't do anything to Fay beside get her out of that cage you had her in!"

Laughter rang out, making Yusuke's eye twitch. 'Stupid mutant bug with her stupid annoying laughter.' First change he got, he was clamping that mouth shut!

"He may have not done it directly, but it was his fault that she lost what protected her from my precious dementium. And now,' the top of her head peered out at them from the shadows on the ground, much like peering out of water.

Large shark like eyes squinted, focusing on them. "All that made her what you knew is gone, leaving her merely a shell housing immense power. Power that will be mine as soon as I devour her body."

"The hell you will!" Yusuke ran at the head, punching the ground seconds after it disappeared. The ground underneath caved, creating a large crater. "Damn it, stop hiding and fight!" he shouted, looking around for Emma.

Hiei unsheathed his katana. 'You had to go act the fool!' He knew that the barrier that had sprung up around him seconds before the stronger one, provided by Fay's bracelet, would have shattered almost instantly under the snake's powerful jaws...but still. 'I...' he gripped his katana tightly, turning as one of the snakes sprung out from the shadows to his left. "Never asked for your help!"

The sword cut the snake from snout to tail, the snake turning into white powdery dust that quickly vanished.

"No, you're wrong." Kuwabara reached into his pocket, bringing out the small bead Fay had given him, gripping it in a fist he glared out at the shadows. "Fay wouldn't give up that easily,' his energy flared out around him. "And neither will we!"

Without thinking he opened his right palm, throwing the small bead that had broken into six different pieces. The pieces glowed with his power, taking on the shape of six orange energy swords. They struck, pinning Emma's head to the ground as she rose from the shadows underneath.

Kuwabara's first panicked thought was, 'Oh no, I broke it!' his second was. 'Wait...I can blame it on the snakes later.'

Emma wrenched herself from the swords, her head turning into dust, the rest of her body collapsing back into the shadows.

"Got it!" Kuwabara grinned.

"Fool!" Hiei said. "If my attack couldn't take her down, what makes you think your puny attack will fare any better."

Kuwabara turned to glare at him. "You're one to talk, shrimp!"

"Mind saving the arguing for later,' Yusuke shouted. "We are kinda in the middle of something. Kuwabara to your right!"

Kuwabara turned, gesturing with his hand. The swords pulled out of the ground, flying at the snake that sprung out at him. They sliced it in ribbons, though all that happened was the snake returning to that powdery dust before another tried eating Kuwabara from the shadows beneath him.

Kuwabara managed to jump away, letting Yusuke slam a powered up fist in between the snake's eyes. His attack shattered the snake's skull, the snake sinking into inky blackness.

Kurama removed the rose from Fay's hair, feeding it his rising energy. It burst into a forest of wild roses around him, the thorns impaling Kitara, who had tried sneaking up behind him. She too became dust.

'This situation does not bode well for us.' No matter how many times they destroyed the snakes or Emma, they kept returning. 'We cut her horns, yet it did nothing to her.' His gaze followed the snakes and Emma, trying to work out how the two fit into this puzzle.

"Dammit, this isn't doing us any good." Yusuke stopped besides Kurama. "If you have any bright ideas, right now would be a good time to tell us about it." Yusuke glanced at his friend, noticing the hair. 'Wonder if he knows his hair's turning silver.' Kurama's eyes had turned gold as well, and he was definitely taller.

Hiei landed on Kurama's other side, Kuwabara running to rejoin them. "They're not attacking anymore. I think that's a really bad sign."

"The three are somehow connected." The trio turned to Kurama.

"How?" Yusuke asked.

"You think we have to try killing them at the same time?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama shook his head. "No, Hiei's attack managed that, yet they returned. This connection is different, though how I have not yet figured it out." His eyes narrowed. "Yusuke, Hiei, place a barrier around us, quickly!"

"How are we supposed to manage that?" Yusuke asked. Although barriers seemed pretty common, he had no idea... 'Oh.' He reached into his pocket bringing out the small fish Fay had given him. "You mean with this."

"We put up a barrier and then what?" Hiei demanded. "I refuse to hide behind a shield and wait to be killed."

"You will see why soon enough, do it Hiei!" Kurama answered hurriedly.

Yusuke's barrier sprung up around them, Hiei's overlapping his soon after.

Across the room from them, Kitara and Kimo reappeared, their appearance and their size shifted. They now resembled cobras with black and yellow stripes down their bodies, and they were twice their original size.

In between them, Emma's head emerged, half the size of the cobras' body. The horns that had grown down her body now grew upward, her lower jaw was lowered to touch the ground, extending further than should be possible. Thick fangs on the top half of her mouth sunk into the ground beneath, while the four arms that could be seen swayed rhythmically.

Kitara and Kimo began the same patterned dance, speaking unknown words in hissing voices.

From within Emma's jaws, blasts of green liquid raced out like bullets, striking at the barrier and sliding to the ground, where they hissed, melting through the rose vines.

'Eew!' Kuwabara took a step closer to the others. "Guys, I think they're doing something, and I get the feeling it's not going to be good for us." He jerked back in surprise when more of the green stuff hit the barrier again.

"Notice her arms,' Kurama said. "If I recall correctly, motions are often needed for a spell to work. I will venture a guess that truly powerful spells require words as well, and time to complete them."

"So what the hell are we waiting for!" Yusuke demanded. "We can't just stay in here and wait for them to finish!"

"How likely are you to dodge that liquid before you manage to get close enough to them?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke hesitated, looking out at the liquid splattering against the barrier. "Well..."

With his luck, all that hissing it was doing probably meant it could melt through skin and bones.

"I hope you have a plan in mind, Kurama," Hiei said impatiently. "If not, I say we take our chances. I'd rather die fighting than die a coward."

"I'm thinking." Kurama replied.

"Think faster!" Hiei snapped.

Kurama pursed his lips, turning to Kuwabara. "Your swords, can you manipulate them from this distance?"

Kuwabara gestured to the six swords floating in a circle around them. They moved.

Kuwabara grinned. "Yeah, I think I can handle it." He gestured once more, sending the swords flying across the room. "Spirit Sword Rain!"

They should have struck the cobras, but more of Emma's arms appeared from the shadows, impaled in place of the cobras.

"I'm not giving up that easily!" Following his movements the swords disappeared, reappeared again, and rained down from another angle, yet more arms blocked their passage.

While this happened, Kurama processed the information he'd glimpsed. 'They keep appearing from the shadows no matter how many times we kill them.'

From the corner of his eye he studied the walls. 'Half of the glass is gone, it stands to reason that if they had somehow anchored an illusion, a spell to it, it would be considerably weaker by now.' This meant that whatever was giving them this invincibility to their attacks, was something else...something hidden... 'Or perhaps...in plain sight.'

'Great, so now we're gonna have to depend on Kuwabara to get out of this one alive?' Yusuke thought. 'Excuse me if I don't feel relieved.' He pointed.

"Hiei, on my mark, let the barrier down."

Hiei glanced at him, nodding.

The tip of Yusuke's finger began to glow. "Now!" The barrier dropped.

"Spirit Gun!" The blast rushed towards Emma's head, disintegrating the liquid coming at them.

'I think that's my cue.' Yusuke started running. "Let's go!"

"No!" Kurama shouted in warning. "That is not the wisest move!"

Yusuke's blast entered Emma's jaws, its light disappearing as if within a cavern. There was a loud rumbling, the hidden half of Emma's body exploded to the sound of inhuman shrieking.

Yusuke smiled. "Got her!"

However, his smile disappeared when Emma opened her jaws wider, her lower body reforming before sinking back into the shadows, and the glass wall.

She began sucking in air, the wind picked up, pulling anything not anchored down into Emma's mouth.

Yusuke struggled to keep himself from being sucked in, grabbing Kuwabara's arm as he flew past. "Dammit, Urameshi! You just had to try it!"

"Hey! It was better than waiting to be killed!"

Hiei flew past them, his sword covered in flames. "Sword of the Darkness Flame!"

"Hiei!" Yusuke and Kurama shouted. 'Damn, he's gonna get himself killed!'

Hiei managed to maneuver himself so that his attack landed where Emma's nose should have been, but was now covered in scales. The scales slowly began to show cracks, but it wasn't long before Hiei had to dodge another arm, bringing up his sword to slash at another.

"I will not be beaten by this creature!" He would not stand for it!

What's more...her face flashed in his mind. The fool girl was always worrying about them. He'd found it annoying, until he'd read her mind. For all her worrying, she'd grown to believe that nothing could bring them down. He was not about to have that belief changed!

He raced up an arm, getting closer to one of the cobras.

From beneath he heard Yusuke shout Kuwabara's name, heard Kuwabara's panicked scream.

'Damn him!' He changed directions, grabbing Kuwabara by the arm inches from the jaws.

"You really are useless!"

The jaws began to move, coming closer to them.

The sound of shattering glass reached them before the pieces fell around Emma's head. A figure landed atop her snout, somehow managing to force the jaws shut despite her small size.

"Didn't anyone teach you to brush your teeth?" Mary Anne drawled.

The wind died down, though the cobras kept up whatever they were doing.

Mary Anne ignored them like she ignored Emma's frenzied tries to toss her away.

"Three of you here need to learn patience." She informed them from her perch.

Yusuke blinked, looking up at her. 'She's here...and...how...' "How the heck are you doing that!" he demanded, pointing up at her.

She shrugged in response, then turned to Kurama. "I believe you were about to tell them something?"

"Yes, of course." Kurama replied in relief. He looked up. "The cage must be destroyed. I believe this will drive them out of the shadows and allow us to do them real harm. After that, I will venture a guess that killing both cobras first will enable us to then kill Emma."

Mary Anne smiled. "It's nice to see that one of you is using his brain."

"Watch out!" Kuwabara shouted, looking above Mary Anne.

She did too, though it was more like an uninterested glance. She moved to the side, causing the bladed tail to sink into Emma's flesh.

Ignoring the screeching, Mary Anne jumped off the snout, landing besides Hiei and Kuwabara. "Well? Unless you'd like to have your souls eaten I suggest you destroy the cage and stop the cobras' dancing."

Hiei smirked. "That's all I needed to know." He leapt, using his sword to slash the cage several times. An eerie scream came from the cage as it was destroyed, silencing when the dark flames consumed it.

A grayish green light glimmered underneath their feet and off the remaining walls, disappearing like mist under the sun's heat.

Yusuke turned his attention to the cobras. 'They...look a lot more solid now.' He wasn't exactly sure why he hadn't noticed it before.

Hiei appeared near one of the cobras. Yusuke would have warned him about the incoming arms, but they were quickly yanked away when Mary Anne casually kicked at Emma's lower jaw, causing her to fly off into the last of the three glass walls, breaking it.

'Guess we should be thankful she's on our side.' Yusuke thought.

"Kuwabara, the other one." Mary Anne said, heading in Emma's direction.

"Right." He stood, motioning to the blades that had fallen to the ground. They responded, forming a circle before heading in the second cobra's direction.

Like the cobra Hiei was now battling, the second one stopped his rhythmic dance, hissing as it moved to avoid Kuwabara's swords.

"Don't think you can run, the great Kuwabara's taking you down this time!" he then promptly had to dodge as the cobra lashed out at him with his tail.

"Here,' Yusuke grabbed on to Kimo's tail. "I'll hold it down for you, so you better not miss!"

It was easier said than done, he was almost thrown twice.

"I don't need your help Urameshi!"

They heard Emma scream from somewhere outside.

"This isn't the time to argue Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.

"Fine,' he was about to grab a hold of one of his swords when Kurama's rose vines burst out from beneath the ground, impaling the snake and missing Yusuke by inches.

"I believe time is of the essence." Youko said stopping beside him.

You could watch where these things grow next time!" Yusuke yelled, his body in an awkward position.

Without replying Youko turned his attention to Hiei's battle. He'd managed to land atop the cobra's head, taking advantage of his position; he brought the sword down, slicing the head in half. The cobra died instantly, thudding to the ground.

Hiei landed beside Youko."I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to stand back and let that guardian finish my fight."

"I never said I was going to do that." Mary Anne walked back in through the broken wall, stopping only to turn and back hand Emma away. She stuffed her hands into her pant pockets and rejoined them.

"After all, I have no reason to avenge your little friend there." She gestured at Fay, who still lay limp in Youko's arms.

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke demanded, before he remembered Emma's words. His eyes grew in disbelief. "No...you really don't mean...that she's...she's..."

Mary Anne shrugged. "Afraid so, a body is only a vessel, and right now, that's all you're holding," she took a second look at him. "Youko, I believe."

She looked over at the cobras, unconcerned that Emma was making her way back inside, blood lust in her eyes. 'About time.' The cobras were turning into grayish green mist as she watched. She followed their progress as the mist swayed through the air, absorbing into the large horns on Emma's head.

It was almost funny; Emma's head falling to the ground under the added weight of her solid horns.

Mary Anne shifted her attention to the boys. They were not pleased by her announcement, and she knew who was to become the target of their increased power.

"You stupid monster!" Yusuke pointed. "I'd tell you to start praying, but I doubt they'd care about it in hell!"

"Spirit Sword Rain!" Kuwabara's attack lashed out first, the blades having multiplied, pinned Emma to the floor before she could attack.

"Razing Petals!" The rose petals that swarmed around Emma cut cruelly through scales, burrowing into flesh and skin where they could cause the most pain.

"Dragon of the Eternal Flame!" The dragon that shot outward from Hiei's arm was golden instead of black, four large golden wings on its back.

"And here's mine, so stay the hell down this time! Spirit Gun!" Yusuke's blast caught up to and melded with Hiei's attack, turning the golden dragon blue, the flames taking on the appearance of feathers.

Youko's petals exploded at the same time Kuwabara's swords did, the added power of Hiei and Yusuke's attack shook the glass house, shattering the last standing glass walls and cutting off Emma's dying screams as she turned to dust, and even that was consumed by the strength of the attacks.-

'It's so nice when I don't have to do all the work.' Mary Anne thought. Their power combined had been just enough to really finish her off. 'One of the first and last immortals, brought down by the power of children from the fourth age...must be embarrassing.'

She looked Yusuke as he fell to his knees, hands pounding the ground. "If we'd just gotten here a little earlier! Damn it! She was counting on us and we let her down!"

Mary Anne glanced around at the other three. 'I sincerely hope they're not going to burst into tears.' Though Kuwabara and Yusuke looked close to it. The other two hid their expressions. 'Better cut this short before it gets started.'

"Don't start a scene, detective,' she said.

He stood glaring at her. "Shut up! She might not have been your friend, but she-"

Mary Anne rolled her eyes. "I said that what Youko's holding at the moment is a vessel. She'll be fine once a healer unlocks what Inera's dementium locked deep within her soul."

A stunned silence descended.

Yusuke's eye twitched. "So why the hell didn't you tell us that, instead of making us believe she was gone!" He'd started in on another sissy speech thanks to her!

"Cause this was your fight,' she said it as if it should be obvious. "You should be thanking me; all I did was give you enough incentive to really bring Inera down." It wasn't her fault they were so easy to manipulate, but it was handy.

Youko closed his eyes in relief. "You could have chosen a less...dramatic way to do so." Though in her shoes, he probably would have done the same thing.

"Kurama's right...err...I mean Youko's right, that wasn't a very nice thing to do!" Kuwabara grumbled.

Mary Anne just barely stopped another eye roll. "I doubt anything else would have made you skip level thirty and go straight to level sixty. Nice attacks by the way." She turned and started for the exit.

"And that's supposed to mean something to us?" Hiei demanded, back to his old self now that he knew Fay would be fine.

"Try playing a few video games, I'm sure you'll understand then." She doubted that if their power hadn't risen as it did, Yusuke would have been able to combine such an explosive attack with another attack as equally dangerous, boosting its power.

She also doubted Kuwabara would have managed to pull off that new attack of his and given it a second twist, such as making it explode. 'I would have given him a few more years.'

Youko Kurama...the jury was out on that one, but with time he'd very likely have reached it, he just happened to need it now.

As for Hiei...well, calling on that dragon was no easy feat, especially since it could kill immortals. Mary Anne doubted he would have been able to call on it, at least not for another hundred years or so. 'It'll be interesting to see who can and can't call up their attacks later.' Not that she was sticking around this group to find out.

"Hn!" was Hiei's reply to her words. "Where do you think you're going? You still need to wake Fay up."

"Hey, who's Inera?" Kuwabara asked.

Near the exit, Mary Anne turned back to them. "I hate answering questions, but here it is: Inera is the real name of the immortal you were fighting. Want more info, ask Koenma. As for Fay, I can't wake her up because, although I do have healing skills, they are in no way at the level needed for such a deep healing. Thirdly,' above them, they heard metal creak. "This place is about to come tumbling down, so see yah."

"In that case, let's go guys. I don't want to find out what pancakes feel like." They ran out of the building, hurrying to catch up with Mary Anne as the glass house collapsed behind them.

At a safe distance, the group came to a stop.

"Don't suppose there's an elevator somewhere nearby?" Yusuke asked. "I don't feel like running down all those steps again." Actually, he was feeling damn tired.

The floor beneath them rumbled.

"What now?" Hiei steadied himself against the shaking.

"Well, the person holding up the spells in this place is gone. This building's going to be collapsing in a few minutes." Mary Anne explained calmly.

"A few minutes!" Yusuke and Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Make us one of those portal thingies!"

"Cant." Mary Anne replied. "You may not understand, but this is one of the points. A highly unstable place when not connected to the other three. Portals of any kind don't work here."

"I take it you have a plan to get us out of here?" Kurama asked, back to his human form.

The wind blew past them, enclosing them in a bubble. The wind bubble lifted into the air, taking them away from the collapsing building.

"It's you!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "The cross dresser!"

Windros' upper body appeared outside the bubble. "I am not a cross dresser boy! And I suggest you watch your mouth before you find yourself plummeting to the ground."

"I'm not afraid of you!" Kuwabara bared a fist. "I can take you anytime you-"

"Not now!" His friends chorused.

They flew past the graveyard grounds, which were collapsing in on themselves as they watched. They left those grounds behind, flying over the forest until they came to a grassy clearing inhabited by several figures.

"They're all here!" Yusuke sighed in relief.

"Bout time you drongos got back!" Chu shouted up at them.

"Hey, Chu. Nice to see you too." Yusuke shouted back down.

The bubble descended, disappearing in a gust of wind.

"Yusuke, are you okay?" Keiko asked running up to him.

"Yeah, just a little tired." Actually he'd been about to ask the same question. "There you are Puu; here I thought you'd gotten lost." Yusuke said, noticing his spirit beast.

"Puu!" the blue spirit beast replied happily.

"Hiei, Kazuma, are you two alright?" Yukina walked over to them. "Do either of you need healing?"

"I'm fine." Hiei replied, looking away.

"I just got a few scrapes. Nothing too big." Kuwabara said, grinning. Mostly, he was just tired.

"Yeah, you should see the other guy." Yusuke added.

"So why is Fay sleeping?" Shizuru asked, looking over at the girl cradled in Kurama's arms.

"Is she going to sleep for two days again?" Rinku inquired.

"No, at least I hope not." Kurama turned to Mary Anne. "You said that a skilled healer could wake her, I don't suppose Genkai can manage that?"

She shook her head, looking to two people at the back of the group. "I can't, but she can."

The girl stepped forward.

"You!" Yusuke exclaimed. He, Kuwabara, Hiei, and Kurama tensed.

"How many times do we have to kill you so that you'll stay dead!"

She looked like someone of nineteen, but they would be able to recognize that face anywhere.

"Oh, that' right." Botan placed herself between the girl and Yusuke. "We were surprised too, when we saw her, but as it turns out this is the real Emma." She stepped aside, letting them see her. "The one you were fighting was just impersonating her. She's actually very nice."

'It's still creepy.' Kuwabara thought, watching her suspiciously.

"You guys sure about that?" Yusuke asked.

"Aye,' Jin said. "She did a pretty good job of healing us, so she did."

"And you can wake Fay?" Kurama stepped closer to the girl, who nodded.

"It's the least I can do, for all the trouble my people and my people's enemy caused you." She gestured. "Please, set her down on the grass."

Kurama complied, laying the sleeping girl down, while Emma knelt, setting both palms above her head.

"So, who are you supposed to be?" Kuwabara asked, looking over at Kyro.

"His name is Kyro, and he helped us escape." Juri informed him. "So be nice."

"Yeah, that creepy thing in the hall would have eaten Juri if it wasn't for him." Koto added.

Juri shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"So you're the well wisher?" Yusuke asked.

Kyro pursed his lips, uncertain of how to answer that question.

Yukio had left them some time ago, ordering all of those who knew, to keep it secret.

Yukina hadn't understood, just as she didn't understand why her father had asked her to keep it secret that she was Hiei's sister. The rest of them which included, besides the girls, pretty much everyone besides the five not present, understood.

"Sure." He finally answered.

"Well, thanks for looking after them then," Yusuke said. "And how's Isis doing?" he asked, spotting Firez standing apart from the group, Isis on his back.

"She'll be fine, once she gets her energy back." Though she'd probably whine about losing so much once awake.

'Well, that's good.' Yusuke thought.

"I can't help but wonder why he still seems to be breathing." Hiei demanded, glaring at the sleeping figure of Attor lying on the grass.

"I have my reasons for keeping him alive,' Genkai answered. "But he's no longer our problem. His people will take him to account for his crimes."

'As long as I don't have to deal with it.' Mary Anne thought. Now if they could just hurry up so she could send them back to their world...and get down to the annoyance of getting a strong enough priestess to come clear this whole mess up. She knew who to go too; she just hated asking for favors.

Mary Anne turned back to the healing taking place. Almost everyone had crowded close to watch, which proved that the real Emma was a lot more patient than she was, she'd be barking at everyone to get out of her space.

The glow from Emma's hands disappeared, the girl getting to her feet.

"I have done all I could." Emma explained.

"You mean she'll need more rest?" Touya inquired.

"How long will we have to wait for Fay to wake up?" Kuronue asked.

"Knowing her, it'll probably be a week." Shishi grumbled. He did not almost get killed by a stupid copy just to sit around for a week and wait for Fay to wake up.

"Well, you see-"

"If you guys aren't happy with the result, you could always try the fairytale path." Mary Anne replied wryly.

"The what?" Suzuka asked.

"I heard Fay say that before,' Touya commented. "But I wasn't sure what she meant, I still don't."

"So what does it mean?" Rinku asked.

"I'll tell you,' Botan said cheerfully. "You've heard Yusuke call Fay 'Sleeping Beauty' right?"

"Aye, do recall Yusuke calling her that," Jin said. He just hadn't thought much on it. After all she did seem to need sleep a lot more than all of them, plus she was a beaut.

"I'm sure it's nice but-"

"Well it's a human story,' Botan drowned Emma out. "About a princess who was placed under a sleeping curse by an evil witch,' her voice turned dreamy. "But a prince defeated the evil witch, climbed to the tower where the princess was held, and woke her up with true love's kiss."

There was a rushing sound as Jin and Kuronue raced past, only to be grabbed by Touya, Shishi, Chu and Yusuke.

'What?" Wondering what she'd missed, Botan turned in the direction the two were struggling to get too. 'Oh my.'

Kurama had Fay cradled in his arms, his lips pressed against hers in a kiss.

'How sweet.' Emma thought, her eyes turning starry. 'I did not know humans could be so romantic.' She'd been trying to tell the group that all Fay needed was a small dosage of terran energy to wake up, and well...this worked.

It made her wonder...could she stage something like this for herself once she found her true love? The thought almost made her swoon.

Kurama broke the kiss when Fay's breathing deepened. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled as they focused on him.

"Kurama." She whispered warmly.

He smiled, placing her hand against his cheek. "Welcome back, my princess."

* * *

AN: Till next chapter^^

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_Not all of them chose this path..."_

"…_I concede defeat and withdraw…"_

"_If you're thinking of kidnapping Isis…"_

"_Many claim that this video…"_


	47. Chapter 47: Aftermath

Chapter 46: Aftermath

If anyone else had called her a princess in the past, Fay would probably have tried stomping on them…or worse. From Kurama, she didn't mind at all. Smiling, she sat up and hugged him. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, he's okay, but what about the rest of us?" Yusuke demanded. "What, are we just chop suey?"

Fay sweat dropped. "I was gonna get to you, you know."

"So you say." Suzuka intoned incredulously.

"I think Fay should give us a reward for rescuing her," Kuronue commented.

"Like what?" Fay asked suspiciously, getting to her feet with Kurama's help.

"A kiss would suffice." Kuronue said, looking thoughtful.

"No!" Fay bristled.

"Aye, I be agreeing. I should get a kiss too." Jin echoed.

"Sounds like an idea to me," Chu murmured.

"I guess so…' Rinku thought it over. "But only if she's wearing that towel I saw her in."

There was a thoughtful silence from the group of boys.

"No!" Fay shouted. She pointed over at the rest of the girls. "Why don't you ask them for a kiss?" she demanded. "You rescued them too!"

"Actually,' Shizuru commented. "We rescued ourselves."

"She's right." Koto added quickly.

"Sorry." Yukina added with an apologetic smile.

Yusuke laughed. "Looks like you're stuck Fay."

"You're not asking for a kiss too, are you Yusuke?" Keiko demanded, glaring up at him.

"No way,' he reassured her. "It'd be too much like kissing a bratty sister."

"Well I'm not asking for one either." Kuwabara said. "There's only one girl I'd want to kiss and she's-" A cold shiver ran down his spine, he looked over at the source just as Hiei turned away.

'Now what's that shrimp's problem?'

"They're only teasing, Fay." Kurama assured her, giving his friends a warning look.

Kuronue raised a shoulder in a shrug, a taunting smile on his lips. "Perhaps…"

"Well I'm not-"

"You guys can continue this comedy of dunces back in your world." Mary Anne said, cutting Jin off. "I have work to take care of here, so shoo."

"I thought you said you couldn't open a portal here." Yusuke reminded her.

"We're no longer within the radius of effect," Mary Anne brought a hand up. The space twisted a few feet from her hand, taking on an archway look. On the other side, the group could see the back of Genkai's temple. "So off you go."

"We must be leaving as well," Emma said.

"You!" Fay stepped back, glaring at the girl.

"Quick recap,' Botan piped up. "This is the real Emma, the other was a fake."

"Oh…I guess that makes sense." Fay muttered, though that didn't explain why this one looked older.

"As I was saying," Emma continued. "We must depart as well. I have been away from my world for far too long. Although,' she turned to Mary Anne. "There is one more thing."

"Yeah, yeah." Mary Anne opened a closed hand. Four spheres appeared above it, all different colors, though one of them looked much darker than the other. They floated over to Emma who cradled them in her palms, her expression sad.

"Oh, Nikias. You did know right from wrong after all, yet you chose wrong."

"What will happen to them?" Touya asked. "Not all of them chose this path, they were forced down it."

"I believe there will be leniency for some of them…for others…" she shook her head sadly. "My people have learned that those who are aware must pay for their sins."

"Your majesty, we should get going." Kyro reminded her.

"Of course." Emma turned to Mary Anne. "As Queen of my world, and the people once known as the Demon Faction, I concede defeat and withdraw from the Supremacy Wars."

"Acknowledged and accepted." Mary Anne replied formally. "Be it known that if either you, or anyone you rule over, ever breaks this agreement and decides to go after The Right, they forfeit their lives."

Emma bowed. "Agreed."

Everyone in the group felt it, a subtle force making the words binding before it was gone.

Emma stepped close to a sleeping Attor, Kyro by her side. "I wish all of you the best of luck. If perhaps we meet again someday, I do hope it is under better circumstances."

A large rounded shadow fell over the group, blue light spilling down from it.

"Hey, that looks like a spaceship!" Kuwabara exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah," Yusuke answered. 'Never thought I'd actually get to see one.' But what the heck, they'd just fought a crazy immortal.

'I can't help wondering why I'm even surprised.' Fay mused. After all she'd been living in an alternate earth for a while now. So of course aliens were real.

Emma and her party disappeared the moment the blue light touched them, the light flickered out and seconds later, the ship sped away.

"Enough gawking. Off you go." Mary Anne gestured to the portal.

"Okay everyone, let's go home!" Botan called out cheerfully.

One by one they headed through the portal.

"You're coming with us." Genkai informed Firez.

"If you're thinking of kidnapping Isis…I'd advice against it. You'll be begging us to take her back home five minutes after she wakes up." The Elemental warned.

"We're not kidnapping her," Genkai replied. "But for the moment she's the only source of information we have on her faction. Once she wakes up we'll ask her a few questions, then she'll be free to leave."

'Source of information, huh…' Firez had to struggle with himself to keep from laughing. "If you say so." He headed after Genkai through the portal.

"Hey,' Yusuke looked over at Mary Anne before he went through. "Thanks."

Mary Anne raised an eyebrow in question. "What for?"

"For showing up when you did. We would have gotten ourselves killed if you hadn't."

Mary Anne crossed her arms over her chest. "No, you would have found a way not to get killed if I hadn't shown up. I showed up because frankly, you were taking too long."

Yusuke's eye twitched.

"And I have an overnight camping trip to get back too, friends who're going to be wondering where I went off to for a couple hours. It was more convenient for me just to show up and speed things along."

"Gee, thanks for clearing that up for me!"

Mary Anne dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "No problem, no go away, you're bothering me."

"Yeah, yeah, bye." Yusuke stepped through the portal.

Mary Anne closed it with a snap of her fingers, turning to the shadow walking out of the woods.

"You could have told me where the demons were located. All this could have been avoided."

"I had my reason, that's all you need to know." Yukio replied. "Oh, and I went to get them." He gestured with a tilt of his head to the trio of women walking out of the surrounding forest.

"Hello, Mary Anne,' Amalthea greeted. "I was told that you would need the service of talented priestesses to purify this point."

Chun and Chen bowed politely. "We will take care of this Ms. Guardian; however we do have a favor to ask in return," Chun said.

This is why she hated asking for favors. "Yeah, what is it?"

"This point must be protected, the other three are. Once this point is purified, we wish to build a temple on the grounds," Chen informed.

'Actually...that's not a bad idea.' Now that they knew where this place was, the rest of the factions would soon find out. Building a temple here would make it neutral ground, a haven.

"Sure, go ahead." Mary Anne turned to go. "I have to head back to the beach, I'll leave Yukio here as your bodyguard." She glanced over at him. "Right?"

Silence... "Fine."

'And still oh so talkative.'

"Before you go, Ms. Mary Anne..."

She looked over her shoulder at Amalthea. "Yeah?"

"Three days from now, the six o'clock news or YouTube."

Mary Anne sweat dropped. "Okay." She drawled uncertainly. Before anyone else could stop her, she left.

* * *

He'd been so focused on the fight; Koenma hadn't known exactly when he'd finished off the last of his food. He couldn't even remember eating his squid on a stick. 'I guess that's to be expected when this group fights.'

From what he'd witnessed, it seemed that they would have one less faction to worry about now. 'One down, six more to go.' He really wished the intelligence team would hurry up and find the culprit responsible for stealing that half of the crest, but so far they'd turned out nothing. 'Guess there's no point in worrying about it today.' He jumped down from his chair.

"I need a nap, let' go ogre."

"Huh?' George turned from the screen to Koenma. 'Not like I have much choice.' He grumbled quietly.

"Coming Sir." He turned off the screen and headed after Koenma.

* * *

Three days later, Mary Anne was about to head home when she spotted a group of students watching something on a lap top.

Without paying much attention she walked past the group, only stopping when she heard the words 'alien' in it.

'Keep walking, just keep walking.' Even as she said this, Mary Anne found herself turning around and joining the group.

"Many claim that this video,' the reporter was saying. "Is proof that we are not along in the universe."

They cut to a video shot by someone.

The video showed a rounded spacecraft above, close enough that they could tell it was very large in size.

A blue light filtered down from it, a very familiar horned girl appearing inside the light.

Mary Anne clutched the book in her hand, her eye twitched.

Unseen people in the video exclaimed at the girl's appearance, though the camera focused on Emma, following her as she looked both ways, then crossed the street to the McDonald's on the other side.

The person followed, running across and entering the restaurant, where people stepped back at the girl's appearance.

"Hello." Emma greeted the gawking man on the other side of the counter. "I would like...hmm...two number fives, and would you please be so kind as to replace the drinks with strawberry milkshakes? Oh and while I have your attention, do you know how to exit the Milky Way galaxy? I'm afraid we seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere around Jupiter." She seemed completely unaware of the gawking stares.

"Your Majesty we're not supposed to interact with normal humans!" Kyro stepped into the restaurant, striding over to Emma; he took her by the arm and began towing her away.

"Kyro we are lost, surely they know how to navigate their own galaxy." She dug her heels in.

"We are not lost," Kyro said, his tone annoyed. "I have the map; the map will tell us which way to go."

"The map was of no use, we should ask them for directions."

"I don't need to ask anyone for directions!" Kyro dragged Emma behind him.

Her struggles diminished though annoyance rose in her voice. "There is nothing wrong with asking for directions when lost."

"We are not lost!" Kyro insisted through gritted teeth. He opened the door, clearly expecting Emma to walk out; instead she turned and headed back to the counter.

"I am not leaving without my milkshake, we have no strawberries in our world and I will not move until I get it!"

Muttering under his breath Kyro walked back to her, gripped her waist and hauled her over his shoulder. "We're leaving now!" he declared firmly.

"Noo! Wait my milkshake!" Emma wailed, struggling to get down.

Someone handed her their milkshake and she took it with a smile. "Thank you very much young man, may fortune smile upon you!"

The door closed, though it opened again as people followed them out, watching as the strange man carrying the girl crossed the street.

Kyro set Emma down on her feet once on the other side, where she clearly pouted. "I did not obtain my fries." She grumbled.

Kyro grumbled something under his breath.

The blue light flashed down, encompassing both, and the two vanished. Seconds later, the ship sped off into the sky.

Mary Anne left the group, headed for the nearest bathroom, checked that no one was inside, locked it with a small spell and screamed.

"You stupid aliens! Stay out of my damn system!"

No one ever found out who shouted that, though it did echo pretty far.

Later on three undisclosed movie companies began to claim that it had been a stunt put on to advertise a movie they were working on. Some people accepted that, others didn't. Especially the college student who'd handed Emma the milkshake. He claimed that he won the jackpot because the alien princess had blessed him, and others agreed with him.

The long lasting headache turned into a migraine for Mary Anne, though she suspected it was because she kept hitting her head against the nearest surface she could find.

* * *

The group was too tired to do much but return to bed once they reached Genkai's temple.

Fay didn't really feel all that tired, but Botan insisted on her getting some sleeps so she reluctantly agreed. Surprisingly enough she did fall asleep, waking up some time later when she heard a door slide close.

Curious, Fay tiptoed over to her door, opening it quietly she peeked out, catching sight of Kurama turning a corner.

Fay closed the door, hurried to change into different clothes and headed after him, finding him in the living room reading a book.

He looked up when she entered and smiled. "Good morning, Fay. How are you feeling today? Any side effects from the spell placed on you?"

Fay shook her head. "Morning, and no, I'm fine."

"I'm glad to hear that." He answered.

'Dammit! I thought I'd gotten over this.' Fay thought, feeling as if now should be a good time to bolt; instead she took a step closer to him. "Umm...do you mind if I sit with you? I won't interrupt your reading."

"Of course not." He held up a hand, and she took it, sitting next to him.

Fay expected him to let go of her hand, instead he kept it wrapped in his, as if making sure she wouldn't bolt.

He went back to his reading, and after a while Fay relaxed enough to lean her head against his shoulder.

She'd never done this with anyone else, just sitting quietly, but Fay found she liked it, at least with Kurama.

Fay didn't know when she fell asleep, but sometime later she woke to Kurama's voice calling her name.

"Something wrong?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"No, everything's fine,' he responded. "I simply wished to show you this." He took her hand and led her to the door leading outside. He opened it, the cold wind erasing the last of Fay's grogginess.

"It's snowing!" She hadn't seen snow up close for a while.

"I thought you might like it." Kurama watched as Fay quickly put on her shoes and jumped out.

"Wait, perhaps you should put on a sweater first."

"It's okay, I'm wearing a turtleneck." Fay waved the arm covered by the long pink sleeve.

"Nevertheless,' he stepped back inside, returning with a jacket in hand. He'd already donned one, his other jacket he placed over Fay's head. "I would feel more at ease if you wore one."

She stood from her crouch, nodding. "Kay." She quickly put on the jacket, then crouched back down.

"Trying to make a snowball?" he asked stooping next to her.

"Nope, I'm trying to make a snow man,' she explained. "Last time I tried, it came out looking really weird and my cousins made fun of it, so I had to dump the ones I caught in the deepest snow I could find." This time she would get it right.

He sweat dropped. "I see...Did no one teach you how to make one?"

"They tried," Fay answered. "But I don't think they took me all that seriously. My dad was never much of a snowman builder anyway, and my mom's not into snow all that much,' actually her mother had a fear of accidently stepping into a deep pit of snow that went down for miles and never being able to get out. "And my brothers only did it for show when there were cute girls around. Don't get me started on my sisters. As for my cousins…let's just say they were more of a hindrance than a help." She tentatively took her hands away from the large snowball she'd made, only to have it break in three parts.

"I can't say I'm the best, but I do know a thing or two about making them. Would you like me to teach you?"

Her smile hopeful, Fay looked up at Kurama. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all." He responded.

She grinned. "Then I'm all yours."

She wasn't sure, but the smile that spread over Kurama's lips looked almost...smug. He leaned in close and kissed her. "I know."

Fay blushed, realizing how her words had sounded. She hadn't actually meant them that way, but...he didn't mind it either.

Kurama spend the next hour teaching her how to make a snowman, and about half an hour after that, she managed to finish the snowman without it falling to pieces, thought it came out pretty small compared to Kurama's.

"Hold it, I have an idea." Fay picked up more snow, padded it onto the snowman while Kurama watched, curious as to what exactly she was making.

Finally she stepped back, looking proud. "What do you think?"

He stared at the snowman in uncertainty. "It's a very nice...pig, is that a hat on his head?"

Fay's eyes turned teary. "That's not a pig,' she pointed. "That's Hiei, see? I even made that coat he always wears, and that's his hair, not a hat."

"Ah...' Kurama covered his mouth with a hand, his eyes bright with laughter. He'd thought she'd had the pig wearing a dress. "And that's...' he stopped, his shoulders shaking. He pointed at the shaped snow. "Supposed to be his sword?" he finally managed to ask.

She nodded.

Odd...he had thought it had been an overly large baseball bat. "Well...you...uh...certainly captured-"

"Finish that sentence and I will kill you, Kurama!"

Fay jumped back when Hiei's energy flared up behind her. "Hiei! Were you up in a tree? In this weather...never mind, look, Kurama showed me how to make a snowman." She gestured proudly with a hand. "I think I did a pretty good job. You can tell who it is, right?"

Kurama's laughter burst out at the same time Hiei tensed, a vein popping on his forehead. "What the hell part of this mutation is supposed to look like me!" he demanded.

"Of course it looks like you!" Fay said defensively. "It's even got your hair!" Said hair suddenly collapsed, leaving the pig...Hiei without hair.

"Damn it! Now you're bald." Fay huffed.

For the first time since she'd met him, Fay turned a glare on Kurama as he laughed, Hiei did the same.

"Kurama!" Hiei said in a warning tone.

"Kurama!" Fay's tone came out a little more whinny than she would have cared for, so she stomped her foot on the snow to make up for it. "You're the one who taught me!" She accused.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Before Fay could stop him, Hiei unsheathed his sword and turned the snowman into several piles of snow.

"I spent an hour and a half on that!" She accused, glaring at Hiei.

"Then maybe you should spent your time doing something you're actually good at,' Hiei shot back. "Like being kidnapped. At least then I could do my job."

Fay's eyes narrowed. "Ha, ha, ha! I'm so amused I forgot how to laugh!"

He smirked. "Is that the best come back your brain could come up with?"

Fay bristled. "No, this is!" She'd been working on a nose for her snowman, but since that had gone down the drain; she pulled back her arm and threw the snowball at Hiei.

He dodged without thinking.

"Ha!" Fay smirked.

Looking surprised, Hiei passed the back of his hand over his face, removing snow. "Did...you actually just do what I think you did?" his tone was dangerous.

"Judging from the snow on your hair, I believe she did." Kurama commented innocently. "However, you seem to have missed his clothes Fay."

A very accurate snowball hit Hiei on the chest.

"There, that's better."

"Nice aim, Kurama." Fay said.

"Thank you." He replied.

Hiei stood there, as if in disbelief that they had actually dared to do what they had. "That's it,' he shook the snow from his hair and clothes. "This time I will kill you."

"Promises, promises." Fay taunted with a smile.

Kurama gently pushed her to the left, causing the flying snowball to miss her, and he retaliated by throwing another snowball at Hiei. He barely dodged, aiming another at Kurama.

"Hey, I'm in this too!" she picked up snow and hurled it at Hiei, he dodged again, though this time far enough that the flying snow hit Kurama in the face.

"Ah! Sorry!" Fay apologized.

"Yes, well...' Kurama's smile turned mischievous. "Perhaps this should be an each for themselves battle." He threw the snowball at Fay, who ducked down. The snow missed, though another hit her from the side.

"That means no ganging up on me!" Fay threw a snowball at Kurama, then another at Hiei. "I may suck at making snowmen, but I've never lost a snowball fight!"

"Ha!" Hiei said. "That's the same thing you said about that card game."

"I'm gonna get that title back from you!" Fay growled. "But I'm not letting you take this one away!"

Another snowball hit her from behind. "Then perhaps I should take it from you." Kurama teased.

"No way!" Fay now understood why she sucked at throwing a baseball, but was good with a snowball. In a snowball fight, everyone was dodging because no one knew where the next snowball would come from, so her aim was almost always accurate...in a roundabout kind of way, not to mention the snow wasn't hard enough to hurt people.

"I'll show you; by the time I'm done you're both going to look like snowmen."

Both laughed, though Hiei's came out mocking. "Do you honestly expect me to stay still long enough to be turned into a sideshow freak?" A snowball flew over his head.

"You can't not dodge forever!" Fay tried again, and again, then had to dodge another of Kurama's snowballs and duck to avoid Hiei's. "No teaming up or I win by default!"

Two snowballs hit her from different directions.

* * *

'I wonder where Fay went.' Botan stretched as she walked down the hallway heading for the kitchen. Keiko and Yukina were already there, Shizuru showing up after her.

"Good morning." Yukina and Keiko chorused.

"Morning you too." Botan chirped cheerfully.

"So where's Fay, don't tell me she's still asleep." Shizuru asked.

"No, actually, I'm not sure where she went," Botan said. "She wasn't in the room when I woke up. You're not getting a bad feeling are you, Shizuru?"

The taller girl shook her head. "No. Everything should be fine,' she hoped. "So maybe she's with Kurama."

"She's outside with Kurama and Hiei." Koto and Juri entered the kitchen, the later yawning.

"Yeah, we could hear them from our room. It sounded like they were having fun." Juri added.

"Really?" Botan couldn't picture Hiei having fun...her curiosity won out and she left the kitchen.

The living room door was open, and outside... 'They're having a snowball fight?' And Hiei was actually participating...but then again, there had been that teddy bear fight.

"Is it me, or does Fay look outnumbered." Shizuru commented.

Botan looked behind her, finally noticing that the rest of the girls had followed.

"You're right. Fay does look like she may need a hand." Yukina said.

Botan grinned. "Then let's even the field. Girls, let's go."

They headed back to their rooms, grabbing jackets and shoes before heading back out.

Yusuke opened his door as Keiko passed him, Puu flying above her.

"Morning, Yusuke. Breakfast is going to be a little late." Keiko added over her shoulder.

"What? Why?" he demanded. He didn't catch her response, so he headed after them, Kuwabara soon joining him. "What's going on, there's a bunch of noise coming from outside."

"I'm a coming!" Jin raced past them, Rinku hot on his heels.

"Hold on, I wanna play too!" the child demon shouted after him.

"Okay, now I'm really curious." Yusuke sped up, coming to a sudden halt when he entered the living room. "They're…having a snowball fight?"

"Yukina! Your knight in shining armor is coming!" Kuwabara shouted, running past Yusuke. As soon as he was outside, a large snowball hit him, causing him to fall face first into the snow.

"I know that was you shorty!" Kuwabara shouted, glaring at Hiei. "Just you wait; I'll put you in your place!"

"Ha! Your aim is probably as bad as your fighting." Hiei taunted.

"That's it!" Kuwabara grabbed a large pile of snow of the ground. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll be mush!" Several snowballs pelted him.

Yusuke grinned. "Okay, if a snowball fights the call, then here I come!" he stuffed feet into shoes and ran out; pausing just long enough to make a snowball and launch it at Jin's back.

"Looks like we'll be starting the day with a good brawl." Chu paused at the entrance, Touya, Suzuka, and Shishi with him.

"Hmp! They look like children if you ask me." Shishi muttered. A snowball pelted him, he glared out at Suzuka.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you." He taunted grinning.

Shishi resisted till the count of five, trying to remind himself that he was not an immature child.

Chu pushed him out into the snow laughing. "Come on then, no sense in missing the blue." He jumped out himself, gathering snow. "Here I come!"

"Might as well." Kuronue strode past Touya, crouching to make a few snowballs.

He stood, turning to Touya."Here, unless you'd rather just watch."

Touya took the snowball, a smirk crossing his lips after a moment. "I'm the Master of Ice, there's no way I can lose in this type of battle."

"Let's see you back up those words." Kuronue challenged.

Touya looked at the snowball, threw it at Kuronue's face, and headed into the fight. "I just did." He called back, looking over his shoulder. "Care to issue another challenge?"

'I may not look old anymore, but I still feel like an old woman in the mists of a bunch of dimwitted kids.' Genkai stood by the doorway watching the snow fly outside.

"Genkai!" Fay called. "We could use a hand in beating up the dimwit!"

"Hey!" Yusuke threw a snowball at Fay. It hit, and she retaliated with another.

Yusuke didn't dodge, but that only caused five other snowballs to pelt him.

"That's not playing fair!" he shouted at the three girls responsible.

No one really knew how it'd happened, but the girls had ended up going up against the boys, with the occasional guy crossing sides and pelting the rest of the guys with snowballs.

'If you can't put them in their place...I supposed it wouldn't hurt to join them.' Genkai stepped outside to join the game.

* * *

**AN: Sorry I wasn't able to post last weekend, I just didn't have time. Anyway since I didn't, I'm posting the chapter I missed last weekend and the one for this weekend.**


	48. Chapter 48: Information

Chapter 47: Information

"And then, off they go through a portal, and the guardian, she speaks to the Oracle and the priestesses, then off she goes. Walking quite rapidly." Iliana finished with a flourish.

While she'd grandly spoken of what she'd witnessed, Hadyn had quietly translated for Nina and Gunnarr, without resorting to theatrics.

Iliana turned to them and Hadyn quickly straightened, taking a few steps away from the two.

"La! Is not my first report quite detailed?" she asked proudly.

"Yeah...nice job." Nina answered, glancing at Hadyn covertly. He gave the slightest of nods, tilting his hat a little more to the left.

"Okay, so let's recap; according to err...Iliana's report, Fay's...The Right." She shook her head, unable to believe it.

Her friend, the girl who always wore clothes and could pass for a guy, actually she had been confused for a guy once by another girl, the girl who was always raving about making it to the X Games...was the most powerful 'weapon' ever known?

"Are you guys sure?" Nina asked, still feeling as if someone was trying to pull the wool over her eyes. She half expected them to start laughing, a ghost with a microphone to pop out from somewhere and tell her something along the lines of "Smile, you're on Ghost Candid Camera." Stupid thought, but the other option was to actually believe it.

"Of course we are sure!" Iliana said, looking affronted. "I am a most talented spy. I would make no such mistake, and since Hadyn was with me, you may trust his very short report."

"Thanks." Hadyn drawled dryly.

"You are welcome." Iliana said magnanimously.

"Hmm...well then, I've made up my mind!" Nina went to her closet, took out her traveling backpack and began stuffing clothes into it. "It looks like these people are protecting Fay, but she's one of my best friends, so I should be right there too, helping to protect Fay from the rest of the factions."

Gunnarr 'leaned' against the wall and watched her with suspicion. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that if we leave now, you won't have to head out to the desert and that Shaman conference your parents insist you attend?"

"Don't be silly,' Nina stuffed one more item into her pack and zipped it close. "It has everything to do with it." There was no way she was spending the rest of her summer in a stupid desert, doing dumb shaman stuff, and listening to the elders of the six tribes talk about 'becoming one with the spirits' and other stuff. This was the perfect excuse to miss all that.

"Now that that's established...didn't the Shaman Faction bow out of the Supremacy Wars a few hundred years ago?" Hadyn asked, he already knew the answer of course, but Nina seemed to have forgotten it.

"My ancestors bowed out of trying,' she emphasized, "To take control of The Right. There was nothing in the contract about helping keep others away from her."

With a grunt she picked up her pack, set it on the bed and headed into her closet.

"So it's perfectly okay for me to go help keep my friend safe. It's my civic duty!" The sound of items falling reached the three ghosts, and they peeked around the door to see what had happened.

Nina liked to collect shoe boxes, why none of her ghosts knew, and stuff 'important stuff' into them. Now she stood inside a mound of shoe boxes that reached a little past her waist. "I hate when that happens." She started digging through them, obviously looking for something.

"Could you not be six percent normal and put important items inside...oh...a drawer chest, or that?" Gunnarr pointed at the chest at the foot of her bed.

"La! I'll have you know I'm perfectly normal, and this is perfectly normal. I'm not the only girl who does this." She hoped. "Besides,' she pushed a red shoe box aside. "If I stored them somewhere else, I wouldn't be able to put them all in alphabetical order."

Iliana sighted, fanning herself. "She needs much work to become a refined lady like myself."

Her two companions silently prayed to their gods that it never happened.

"Found it!" Nina smiled in triumph as she dug out two boxes, one a dark brown and the other yellow. She waded through the pile of boxes and headed out of the closet to her backpack.

"What will you be telling your parents?" Hadyn asked quietly.

"I've got that covered too." Nina opened a smaller pouch on her backpack, set the items inside and zipped it closed. "Okay...I've got clothes, I have that...what am I missing. Think, think, think..."

"Is she still watching Winnie the Pooh?" Gunnarr asked Hadyn.

The former spy nodded.

"Hey!" Nina whirled around to face Gunnarr. "Drop the tone, cause I know you sit around watching SpongeBob!"

The other two ghosts glanced at Gunnarr in amusement.

The ancient Viking coughed, turning away to hide the blush on his face. "Yes well...I take it you'll be using the same excuse on your parents?"

Nina let the last subject drop, and nodded. "Of course, if it's not broken, don't fix it." She knew she was forgetting something.

"Won't work forever." Hadyn muttered.

"We'll get to it when we get to it." Nina snapped her fingers as she remembered. "I can't believe I almost forgot." It was summer, so she'd definitely need the sun block unless she wanted to resemble a crab.

"Okay, now we've got everything." She grabbed the sun block from the side table, stuffed it into her backpack and headed for the door. "Let's go guys! Can't keep Fay waiting!" And her parents were due back in fifteen minutes.

She headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she grabbed a pen and a sticky note. Nina quickly wrote down the note and stuck it on the refrigerator door.

"Done and done."

Hadyn glanced at the note. 'Gone out to find myself, be back later.' He shrugged and headed after the others. 'At least this should prove entertaining for a while.'

* * *

Isis always took her time waking up. Today; she'd had no choice but to wake up because _some people _were making a racket outside her window. The fact that the noise had stopped about an hour ago didn't make a difference as far as she was concerned.

It was her summer vacation and by god she was not waking up early!

It was then Isis realized that she was not sleeping in her bed back home but a futon, in a room that looked Japanese.

'Oh look, I've been kidnapped.' Never one to make a fuss, it took to much energy and she was not wasting any more energy than she had too, Isis got up and looked around for her clothes.

She didn't find hers, but she did find a change of clothes that according to the note on top of it, was for her. Isis knew right away whose clothes she was borrowing, but they were about the same size, and the clothes were cute, so she was keeping them!

Following the directions on the note, the girl made her way to a bath, only mildly surprised that it turned out to be a hot springs, took her time with the bath, and finally deigned to climb out.

"Windros." The smallest of breezes stirred into the changing room, becoming the upper torso of her wind element. "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"They decided you should recover here. The rest...I believe you should ask them. They're in the dining room eating breakfast."

"This late?" Isis would surmise they'd been as tired as she had, except that they had been outside making enough noise to wake the dead...or her.

"Snowball fight." Windros answered, leading the way down the corridor.

'Lucky I missed it.' That would have meant making some kind of effort.

Windros disappeared as she neared the dining room. It was easy enough to find it; there were a lot of loud voices coming from it.

"You've really never tried that drink, Fay?"

"Kuwabara stop hogging the syrup!"

Ah yes, she remembered Yusuke well enough, and the one who'd spoken first was Botan.

"Would you like some more, Hiei?" And that was the sweet girl, Yukina.

'Wonder what happened with the whole dad thing.'

"There's a lot less noise in a school cafeteria, you know." Isis said, walking in.

"About time you woke up." Yusuke said. "I was beginning to think you were trying to take Fay's title away."

"Would you like more syrup, Yusuke, I don't think your hair has enough." Fay asked mock sweetly.

Some of the others burst out laughing, though Kuwabara was the closest so Yusuke punched him on the head.

"At least I don't get kidnapped every five seconds!" he shot back.

"Well at least I don't look ready to perform the Greece Lightning song!"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!" Yusuke glared past Jin and Kuwabara to Fay.

"Try watching the movie dimwit!"

Both took a deep breath.

"And that's the round." Botan intercepted before the two could continue. "Okay you two, behave, we have a guest."

The two glared at each other before seating back down and stuffing food into their mouths.

Botan turned back to Isis. "Take a seat; it'll just take a minute to get your breakfast."

"Come on then sheila, there's a seat right here for yah." Chu lifted Rinku from the place next to him.

"Hey let go! I'm sitting here!" Rinku objected, flailing his limbs.

"Thanks, but I think I'll sit over there." Isis took a seat next to Yukina who smiled at her in welcome.

"Maybe we should start keeping count on how many girls reject you." Rinku suggested.

"Don't be a drongo." Chu set Rinku back down in his place and returned to his own food.

"Here you go, eat up." Botan returned from the kitchen with a plate of food and set it in front of Isis.

Except for the occasional verbal fight, everyone seemed more concerned with their food than anything else at that moment.

As for her, Isis quietly tried to figure out why she'd ended up here instead of her Elementals having taken her home, because she was not about to join the 'we must protect the Fairy' club.

'Guess I'll have to wait for an answer.' She could do that.

It looked like this group had already worked out a system when it came to chores.

The girls cooked, and the boys cleaned up, while grumbling, after breakfast.

Isis would have tried sneaking away then, but Botan and Shizuru got a hold of her, taking her with them to the living room where the other girls joined them.

"We never got to thank you for helping us escape." Botan said. "So thanks."

Isis would have made the whole 'no problem' response, but it had been problematic, and really, really tiring, not to mention it had hurt! "I owed Fay, thank her if you want." She answered instead.

She turned her attention over to Yukina. "So, what happened with dear ole-"

"Shh!" All but Yukina and Fay chorused.

"We're not supposed to talk about it." Juri whispered.

"That's right, I don't wanna be anywhere near if he finds out, or the older one finds out someone told." Koto had seen Hiei fight first hand; she did not want to end up in the receiving end of one of his dragon attacks.

"Hold on...what?" Fay looked from one of her friends to the other. "What did I miss, what are you guys hiding?"

"Nothing...just that...umm Emma, that's right, Isis is asking what happened to that imposter." Keiko quickly made up.

'Whatever.' Isis thought. "Yeah sure, so someone managed to take her down?"

"Yes, she won't be bothering anyone again." Genkai entered the room, the boys behind her.

"I'm sure you've been wondering why you're here?" she asked Isis.

"It has crossed my mind." Isis admitted.

"We want information,' Genkai said. "Whatever you happen to know of your Faction's plans regarding Fay, as well as the other factions."

"Sorry, can't help you with that." Isis answered, sounding bored.

"Your loyalty to your faction is admirable but-"

Isis cut Genkai off with a snort. "Who's talking about loyalty, lady? I can't tell you because simply put, I don't know."

"We're supposed to believe you don't know what your own faction is up to?" Hiei asked in disbelief.

"Believe it or not." Isis shrugged. "I moved out of the main house after they talked me into my first and last attempt, at trying to kidnap the Fairy."

"You wanna die!" Fay snapped at her.

"Fairy?" Suzuka asked, turning Fay.

"You know, now that I think about it she does have a resemblance." Yusuke said, studying Fay.

"I'm warning you! Anyone decides to adopt that stupid name and I'll send them to their grave a few years early!"

"Right,' Yusuke drawled. "And what are you going to be using, those scrawny arms of yours."

"Fay's just the short version of her name." Botan explained to the others. "The full version is Fayre, but as we all know she prefers Fay."

"It does kinda sound like it." Rinku said.

"Enough!" Genkai yelled. "You two,' she turned to Fay and Yusuke. "Save your argument for later, we have more important business to attend too." She turned back to Isis.

'Too bad, I was beginning to enjoy this.' Isis thought, if it had escalated a little more, she might even have been able to sneak out of this place.

"Even if you don't know their current plans, you do know them. That information may very well help us in the future to stop their attempts without having to kill them." Genkai said.

Isis inwardly winced. No, she really didn't want her family killed, then she'd be stuck with the whole 'I must avenge them' part and that would really, really annoy her. It was hard to believe that this group could accomplish it though, but if they brought down the Demon Faction...she supposed anything was possible.

"Are you saying that there isn't much loyalty in your faction?" Touya asked.

"On contraire." Isis responded. "My family's all about loyalty to our faction and raising its status and blah, blah. And hey, if someone has to betray another for the good of the faction, then by all means they'll go right ahead and do it. Everyone else will probably give them a pat on the head and a golden star."

"That...doesn't really sound like loyalty." Koto said.

"It is to them." Isis said. "I'm about the only none obsessed Magus in my whole faction because it would be too much work."

"Will you tell us what you know, then?" Kurama asked.

"Yeah,' Isis said. "But only because, like Genkai mentioned, it would probably mean you not killing anyone in my family, and I don't want to deal with the clean up. It would be-"

"Too much work." The others finished for her.

Isis grinned. "There you go, now you're getting it. Okay then, where should I start?" Hopefully this would be quick; she was getting tired of so much talking.

"We already know about three of you, and your mother has been mentioned,' Kurama said. "However, we know little of her, or anyone else in your faction. So let us begin with that; how many in your faction?"

"Seven." Isis answered. "But Corentin's pretty much out of the picture for the next two years...at the least, and I really hope by then this'll all be over. So let's start with Mjrn. Some of you have already met her, she's small, too smart for her own good, and talks like she walked out of a Shakespearean play. Her ability goes further than just music, she controls sound waves. Depending on how she does it, she can trap you in an illusion; cause you to see your friends as enemies and her as your friend, and anything else her little mind can come up with. Heck, if she wanted to, she could have you line dancing."

Kuwabara shuddered. "Okay, that's scary. How do we stop her then?"

"The violin." It wasn't Isis who answered but Kurama. "I take it that's how she channels her magic?"

Isis nodded. "Yeah, but it isn't easy to break. Mjrn's a level III Magus, roman numerals, don't ask me why. And that means that what she channels through will be guarded by powerful protection spells, but since you do have three people here with the right kind of energy,' she lazily glanced over at Genkai, Kuronue, and Hiei. "Or at least a weapon with the right type of energy, it shouldn't be too hard to break. Just be warned, you'll only get one chance. Mess it up and I wish you the best of luck. Oh and there is her Guardian, try not to kill him but take him down before all his seals are released."

"From what you said I take it a level III Magus is someone powerful." Touya inquired.

Isis nodded. "There are five levels to a Magus. A level V Magus is a beginner, someone way at the bottom. Level IV is the middle ground, and only the more talented and powerful Magus's make it to Level III. Not many make it past that level since it's extremely difficult. There are some upper level III, those who are...just barely at the line, I guess you could say."

"So what level are you?" Fay asked curiously. She wanted to say five, but for some reason that didn't really fit.

Isis gave her a bored look and continued on as if she hadn't heard her. "My aunts Saule and Nevena are upper level III, just so you know."

"Aren't there any guys in your faction?" Kuwabara asked. He really didn't want to end up having to fight anymore girls!

"There are Magus males in the House,' Isis replied. "But not in the ruling family, a.k.a. the faction. For some reason it seems easier for females to channel our type of magic than guys. The only upper level male Magus to have been in the faction was my father but...he's gone." Her tone warned them not to even go there.

"What should we be looking out for with these two aunts of yours?" Kuronue asked.

"And what are their weaknesses?" Kurama added.

"Truth be told...I don't know." Isis admitted. "They've never told me, and I've never had any reason to find out. I know that Aunt Saule's magic deals with fire, but that's all. Don't think your typical fire though, cause it won't be. The same for aunt Nevena. Her magic deals in light." In truth, only Nevena was an aunt from her father's side of the family, but she'd known the rest of the women all her life so they were aunts to her, except Corentin, she was way to annoying to be one.

'Sounds like they will be tough to bring down.' Genkai thought. Isis didn't seem to be lying, even if she did look like she was extremely bored with the conversation. "And the rest?"

"It gets tougher,' she warned them. "Aunt Tijana is my mother's right hand woman. She's the person my mother sends in to get the job done when everything else fails. And she is a level II Magus. I don't think her magic could be called death magic, but it is deadly. Watch her every movement very carefully because the slightest change in her pose may easily mean the end for one of you."

"You could make it a little clearer." Shishi demanded.

"Think of her movements as...a guillotine poised above your head. You have seconds to move out of the way before it cuts it off."

Koto shivered. 'I think I'll stay behind when that fight comes along.' She knew accidents happened in fights, and she did not want to become one of them.

"Your family sounds really scary." Botan said.

"They can be." Isis admitted.

"Tijana's weakness?" Suzuka prompted, hoping Isis did know it. He really didn't look good without a head.

Isis pointed at her arms. "She has a spell put in place that makes the tattoos on her arms invisible, but they're there. That's what she channels her magic through."

"How the heck do we break a tattoo?" Yusuke demanded.

"Aye, ye have to give us more to go on than that." Jin said.

"All I can tell you is that tattoos made to channel magic do have a weakness and can be shattered, much like a mirror, but aunt Tijana is even more secretive than the rest of my aunts, so exactly what and how, you'll have to figure out on your own."

'That gives us very little to go on, on an enemy who could very well be lethal to many of us.' Kurama thought. Nevertheless, he supposed it was more information than they had before. "Very well, then your mother. I take it she's a level I Magus?"

"Yeah." Isis answered. "And I know less about her than I know about aunt Tijana."

"But she's your mom." Yusuke said.

"Parents don't tell their children everything, and my mom isn't going to hand me her secrets until she knows I'm fully committed to the whole 'rah, rah, all hail the Magus Faction' thing, and frankly I could care less about it."

"What are your abilities?" Touya asked.

"What for?" Isis asked. "I may not be inclined to join you lot, because frankly I have no reason to do so, but neither am I going to join up with my family and try going after Fay." She shuddered. "No thanks."

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Fay defended herself. "And I specifically remember helping you with your report in fifth grade."

"Ha!" Isis retorted. "That was because it was your fault my paper got shredded in the first place! And Wikipedia does not a report make!"

"At least I tried!" Fay shot back.

"No you didn't! It took you half an hour, and that's stretching it, before you hightailed it out of the library and went off to skate with your buddies! And that's not all, you ruined my sixth birthday!"

"I thought the clown was attacking you!" Fay shouted.

"He was going to put a really nice crown on my head, what about that looks like an attacking clown!" Isis snapped. "And don't think I don't remember fourth grade Halloween!"

"I thought you were dead, I was scared!" Fay snapped.

Isis bristled. "You don't poke a person with a stick to check if they're alive!"

Fay took a deep breath to respond, realized everyone was watching them as if it were a ping pong game, and let it out slowly. "You just don't have a sense of humor." She muttered.

"It almost sounds like you could give Yusuke a run for his money." Keiko said. "He's been a troublemaker ever since he was a kid."

"No way, no one can match me at that." Yusuke boasted.

'Children.' Genkai shook her head. "Enough, we were having a more important conversation." She reminded them. "What Touya meant by asking you for your abilities, is that it is possible your mother may very well have similar abilities as well. So answer the question."

"I don't see why I should." Isis grumbled. "You already know I control five elements; Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and Lightning."

"Aye, we know as much,' Jin said. "But it don't sound to me like a trick a low level Magus might know."

It took Isis a moment to understand Jin's quick speech. "Because it's not." She admitted reluctantly. "I'm a level II Magus."

"What!" Came from more than one person in the room.

"But you're always lazing around, doesn't being a high level something mean you have to actually put some effort into it?" Fay asked.

"Yeah, you're always talking about it being too much bother." Kuwabara added.

Isis sighted, long and deep. "Listen, I learned something in my earlier years. If you're weak, everyone will be pushing you around and making you work. If you're strong, they'll be a lot more respectful, plus I can do whatever I want. So I worked my butt off when I was younger to reach this high a level, so that I don't have to work now and no one tells me what to do. They can try, but if I don't want too, I don't have too."

Hiei smirked. "At least you seem to understand the benefit of power."

"I thought there might be more to you than you let on." Kurama said. "Your Elementals did speak about seals being removed, and we did witness you removing two of them."

"So how come you ended up so tired after that fight in the mausoleum?" Rinku asked.

"Because I didn't release any of my seals," Isis explained. "I didn't feel like it, they're too much work, and I would have ended up even more tired."

She stood. That was the longest she'd ever talked. "I'm done here. Do whatever you want with the information I gave you, I can't tell you about the other factions because they're too secretive, so I know nothing. I can tell you that according to word on the street, Astor's obsessed with her." she gestured at Fay. "But then again, you could say the same about the other factions."

Including her family unfortunately. "I need to report in before mother sends out the cavalry." Isis walked to the door where she found her shoes waiting. "Oh, and one more thing."

She finished putting on her shoes and turned back to the group. "The Battle Fields you've been fighting in, there are two levels to them. You've been fighting in level one fields. I have the feeling that you'll be dealing with the level two soon enough.

"Mind telling us what those are exactly before you leave?" Shishi asked.

'Make it quick Isis.' She thought to herself. "Level two battle fields transport you to other worlds or dimensions, literally, though still within a battle field so no one but you will be aware of the battle, but they are much larger. Once there, you have two hours to find the cornerstone, which can be pretty much anything the one who summoned the field wants it to be. Once found, break the cornerstone and you'll find yourselves back here."

"How the hell are we going to do that if we don't even know what this stupid cornerstone looks like or how to even find it?" Yusuke demanded. Great, things just seemed to be getting worse.

"It goes by element." Isis explained. "If you end up in a place where,' she gestured. "Touya here has the advantage, then he'll be able to see the glow of the cornerstone much more clearly than any of you. The same with the others." She opened the door and stepped out.

"And hey,' Isis glanced back at them, her green gaze unreadable. "Whatever you're doing to help Fay get rid of her...unwanted gift, I suggest you hurry it up before the Fears decide they no longer want to watch." With that she closed the door behind her.

"Well she was a lot of help." Yusuke grumbled. They didn't know all that much now than they did before, except for one of her aunt's being able to kill by just moving. 'That should be a challenging battle...if we can survive it long enough.'

"We may not know everything we wanted, but yes, she was of some help." Genkai turned to Jin and Touya. "You two, come with me."

The two friends glanced at each other in puzzlement but followed after her.

* * *

'Freedom!' Isis stretched her arms over her head, glad to be out of that interrogation room. 'Now to go back to doing what I do best!' Which is to say, nothing. Plus there was a double fudge brownie ice cream back home calling her name. 'That show about whales should be on too.' Thanks to Yukio and this group she'd missed her chance to head out to San Francisco and try to catch some dancing whales, but that was simple enough to fix. She'd just reschedule for next weekend.

Until then, she had ice cream to devour, a soft comfy bed waiting for her back home, and absolutely nothing to do for the next few days. If she were the type to cheer, she would. Instead she headed away from the temple, raising her hand to bring up a portal.

"Wait!"

'Noo!' she silently whined when she heard Touya's voice. Reluctantly, Isis turned around. "Look, I already told you I don't know anything about-"

"That's not what we be wanting to talk to ye about, now." Jin told her.

"Okay, then what?" she asked, not bothering to hide her impatience.

"As we mentioned before,' Touya explained. "Jin and I are both known as Masters of Ice and Wind, and our former Masters did teach us everything they knew. However that doesn't take away from the fact that even now our powers are limited."

"Sooo..." she stretched out the word, a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"We be wanting ye to teach us. Who better than someone who can control Elementals, aye?" Jin said.

Isis scratched her ear. "Were you not in the same room with everyone else? I specifically remember-"

"Think about it first." Genkai walked up to them, her stern gaze on Isis. "You teaching these two means that in the future, you are less likely to be dragged into this war. Isn't that the same as your, apparent, motto? Working now means you won't have to later on."

She really hated it when people used her own words against her. Unfortunately, Genkai had a point. Isis really, really didn't want to get dragged into this war anymore than she already had...and in the wrong side. If her mother fond out she'd probably get the scolding of her life, probably four hours long with not a snack in sight. There would most likely be strong coffee present as well.

She sighted in defeat. "Okay, okay, you win."

"Thanks." Touya said.

"Aye, we won't be letting you down." Jin added with a grin.

"I still have to go home today just so that my mom won't start getting any ideas, but I'll be back tomorrow around ten."

"Seven." Genkai stated firmly.

"Nine." Isis insisted.

"Seven." Genkai persisted.

"Eight!" Sure Isis could have given in, but she had something to prove here! What it was she'd figure out later.

Genkai smirked, and relented...somewhat. "Seven thirty."

Isis threw up her hands in surrender. "Fine, have it your way! I'll be back tomorrow at seven thirty, not a moment earlier! And you two,' she glanced at Touya and Jin who'd watched the two verbally spar. "Just to let you know, you asked for it." With a 'hmp!' she stomped away, disappearing into the portal she'd brought up.

"Are you sure this was a good idea, Genkai?" Touya asked, still a little uncertain.

Genkai smiled and turned to head back inside. "Yes, she may act like a complete slacker, but it seems to me that's her way of avoiding being pulled into a war she never cared for in the first place."

* * *

**AN: Till next time^^ R&R**

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_Hold on…are you guys saying that, that could…"_

"_This has gone on long enough."_

"_Now that Zadkiel has abandoned us…"_

"…_do I then have the authority to do what must be done?" _


	49. Chapter 49: Winter's Day Visitor

Chapter 48: Winter's Day Visitor

'It really sounds like it's going to get a lot more difficult.' Fay thought gloomily. She still didn't like the thought of her friends being in danger because of her, but by now she understood that they could take care of themselves a whole lot better than she could take care of herself. Which was really depressing.

"Here," Hiei stretched out his arm to her, his hand holding out the bracelet.

"Next time you might want to use your brain before you do something stupid." He told her.

Fay took the bracelet and smiled up at him. "You're welcome."

He stared at her in silence for a few seconds before turning away. "Hn."

"Which reminds me, I have something to give you back too." Suzuka reached into his pocket, bringing out the small blue-green fish and holding it out to her. "Thanks for the help back there."

Fay blinked, starring at the fish then up at Suzuka. "Uh...well you can keep it until this is over, it's come in handy for the others but...what do you mean 'help back there' and for that matter...when did I give you the fish?"

"You're hard to mistake, it was you who talked to us back when we were fighting those doppelgangers, I assume by telepathy." Shishi said. He didn't often accept help, and he didn't really like thanking others, but he also knew when he had no choice. "Thanks by the way."

Now she was even more confused. "What? I don't have any telepathy, unless Hiei's rubbed off on me."

"Doubtful." Hiei muttered from his place near the wall.

"And…doppelgangers? What are those?" Great, was there some kind of Fay imposter going around and impersonating her?

"But I heard you too." Rinku sat on the table in the middle of the living room facing Fay. "You woke me up just in time to kick D...the bad guy's butt." He'd been about to say Dante, but he didn't think reminding her of that would be a good idea.

"Rinku did mention yah talked to him." Chu muttered.

"Well I don't remember doing that..." Fay placed the back of her palm to Rinku's head, checking his temperature. Maybe there was some kind of flu that caused illusions going around... She set her other hand to her forehead. "Nope, you're not sick…maybe you just ate some bad meat."

"I'm feeling fine,' Rinku said, a grin spreading over his face. "But maybe you should check with your forehead just to make sure."

"You think so?" Would that make any difference?

"I'm feeling a little strange too; maybe you should check me first." Kuronue sat down on Fay's other side, sliding a little too close to her.

"Hey! I was here first!" Rinku complained.

"Is it possible you contacted them as you once did Yusuke?" Kurama asked. Arms crossed, he stood behind Fay, subtly glaring down at Kuronue. The bat demon returned the stare with an assured one.

"I…don't think so." Fay muttered. She remembered doing that, mostly because it had not been pleasant.

"Maybe you just don't remember,' Yusuke thought out loud. "I mean you did come close to losing all your memories. Maybe the real Emma just forgot to add that one." Either that or Fay's memory was worse than his.

"I guess it's possible…" Fay admitted.

"Either way, thanks." Suzuka told her. Next to him Shishi nodded.

"Oh!" Botan stood up. "I forgot I have to report in to Koenma. Silly me, I almost forgot." She fished the communicator from her pocket and headed out of the living room. "You guys just continue chatting, I'll be right back."

"And before we forget,' Yusuke poked Kuwabara on the side with his elbow. "Don't you have something to tell Fay, Kuwabara?"

Kuwabara turned a glare on Yusuke. 'Just you wait, Urameshi!' Laughing nervously, he turned to Fay. "Yeah…well, that bead you gave me…it kinda broke…when we were fighting that creepy centipede. I'm not even sure where the pieces went after that."

"I hope you won't be to mad with Kazuma." Yukina said. "I'm sure he would have saved them if he could."

"Yeah, yeah, what Yukina said." Kuwabara added quickly.

She should be mad but... "It's okay, you did help save me."

Kuwabara let out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah, for once he actually did something useful." Yusuke said with a smirk.

Kuwabara turned to glare at him, opening his mouth to reply when Hiei spoke.

"Before he was fool enough to almost get sucked into that monster's mouth."

Kuwabara turned to glare in his direction. "Look who's talking! You and Yusuke were the idiots who rushed in without waiting for Kurama to-"

"What did you call me!" Hiei reached for his katana, Yusuke punched Kuwabara on the head.

"Like I was just gonna stand there and let you take all the credit!"

Everyone else mostly ignored the fight that broke out, Juri and Koto moving a little further out of the way.

Shizuru excused herself to go out for a smoke, Keiko and Yukina explained to Fay what had happened after the imposter had taken her away, with Juri and Koto adding commentary.

Chu kept shouting over Yusuke and Kuwabara's shouts that he'd take on the winner, Shishi closed his eyes, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, Suzuka standing next to him.

To anyone who noticed, it would look as if Kurama and Kuronue were having a conversation without words, while Hiei did his best to ignore them all.

Rinku was wondering where Touya, Jin and Genkai had gone off to when he remembered.

He got off the table, heading for his room where he found the shell in his bag. 'I keep forgetting to give this to her.' Now seemed like a good idea, before he forgot again.

His three missing friends were back when he returned, and Yukina was healing Kuwabara's bruises.

"She actually agreed to that?" Fay was saying.

"Aye, we'll be starting tomorrow early." Jin said.

"Starting what?" Rinku asked, sitting back on the table.

"We'll be training with Isis and her Elementals." Touya explained to him. "Genkai thinks it's a good idea."

"With her work ethic?" he couldn't help asking.

"What do you have in your hand, Rinku?" Kuronue asked. Both he and Kurama had noticed the item the moment Rinku had come in.

"Oh, this." He held it out to Fay. "I found this back in Demon World, but with everything that's happened I kept forgetting to give it you, so here. I thought you might like it."

"Oh…thanks." She took the broken shell, wondering if the stones were real. Fay actually didn't go for this kind of stuff, this was more to her sisters' liking, but it came from a friend so she'd keep it, and even she had to admit it was really pretty. "Thanks Rinku, it's really nice."

"Where in Demon World did you get that?" Koto asked.

"Yeah, it's so pretty." Juri scooted closer to see it. "I want one too." She had the perfect outfit to go with it.

"It is very pretty." Yukina agreed.

"Yes, it is." Keiko agreed.

"Don't worry, Yukina." Kuwabara took the ice apparition's hands. "I won't stop until I find one just for you."

"Oh…well, thank you, Kazuma." Yukina said.

Rinku grinned, pleased with himself. 'Maybe I should have given it to her earlier.'

"May I see it?" Kurama asked Fay.

She nodded, handing it up to him.

He studied it closely, Kuronue by his side. "Do you feel it?" Kurama asked the taller demon.

Kuronue nodded. "Yes."

"I'm all the way over here and I can see it." Hiei said, his forehead glowing for a second.

"Hold on…are you guys saying that, that could…" Yusuke trailed off.

Kurama nodded, readjusting his grasp on the shell. He pushed against one of the glittering stones until it snapped off.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" Rinku demanded.

"Shh," Chu set a hand atop Rinku's head. "I think they're on to something."

Silence fell as they watched Kurama snap off more of the stones and hand them down to Fay who cupped them in her hands.

Little by little, a broken and very familiar design was revealed beneath the stones, and when Kurama handed the last of the glittering stones to Fay, they gave off a magical glow; a glyph that looked like an eight pointed star with two arrows dissecting it appeared above them before the glow disappeared along with the stones.

"What in the world was that?" Botan asked, having just walked in.

Kurama smiled, showing her the piece. "Perhaps you should inform Koenma we have the second to last piece of the crest."

"This means we're almost there!" Fay hugged Rinku tightly. "Way to go, Rinku!" All they needed was one more and she could get rid of this power!

"Aw, jeez now you're embarrassing me." Rinku blushed.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Suzuka teased.

"Hey watch it, buddy; I could take you down with my new great power." Rinku threatened.

"Ha! In your dreams,' Suzuka retaliated. "My new attack can take you down and trounce your new attack."

"Enough, the lot of you!" Genkai shouted over their voices. "It's too early to celebrate just yet. We still have one more piece to find, and we don't want to get so ahead of ourselves that we trip at the finish line. Boys, we have training. As for you,' Genkai turned to Koto and Juri, who hugged each other looking scared.

Genkai smiled. "Take the day off."

"Hold it old hag,' Yusuke protested. "If you haven't noticed there's snow out there."

"Yeah, and it's cold." Kuwabara added.

"Oh? And you think our enemies will wait until summer comes around!" Genkai demanded. "Get off your ass and put on a jacket dimwit, we're training."

'You don't have to be so bitchy about it.' Yusuke silently grumbled. He stood up and headed for his room. "Let's go guys, you heard the old hag."

"I can still hear you, Yusuke!" Genkai's voice drifted in from outside.

"My mistake, next time I'll whisper!" he shouted, stomping off.

"Are you certain you would not prefer to keep the crest?" Kurama asked Fay.

She shook her head. "It's safer with you, besides if I do get captured again, though hopefully not, they'll wonder what I'm doing with it."

"I see…perhaps you're right. I'll continue to guard it then." Kurama slanted a look at Kuronue, who watched them openly, turned back to Fay and kissed her on the lips while everyone watched.

Fay's face heated up turning red, though she didn't object to the kiss.

"Ready to give up, Jin?" Touya asked his friend quietly. Jin was looking putout, unusual for the Wind Master.

"I'll be after giving up when I win." Jin said under his breath. He turned and headed outside.

With a shake of his head Touya followed. 'This isn't a contest Jin, or a fight.'

Even if it was, Touya didn't believe Jin or Kuronue could win.

"Possessive, aren't you?" Kuronue commented mildly when Kurama passed by him.

Kurama paused, glancing up at him. "Yes." He continued past.

Kuronue smiled and headed the other way. He had no need for a jacket. "I'll see you later, Fay."

"Umm…yeah, later Kuronue." Fay answered, still a little dazed.

"Aren't you lucky." Juri said once the boys had left.

Fay blinked her eyes, reminding herself not to act like a ditz. "Yup, I am." She had Kurama after all.

"I don't think she means it the way you took it." Koto said.

Fay looked at them with a blank expression. "Then what did you mean?"

Both scooted closer to her. "We mean you having three boys fighting over you." Juri whispered conspiratorially.

"So how does it feel? Maybe we should set up an official fight between them; the winner gets to keep you." Koto added in the same tone.

Fay sweat dropped. "You two okay?" She didn't have guys fighting over her.

"Don't listen to those two." Botan rejoined them, glaring down at Koto and Juri who moved away, looking as if they didn't know why Botan was mad.

"They're just joking." She had worked too hard at this to have someone come in and mess up her project!

"You are lucky though,' they turned to Keiko. "I wish Yusuke would act a little more romantically once in a while. I mean, I'm not asking for a lot, and I can't imagine Yusuke any other way, but it would be kind of nice."

"Puu." Sitting on her lap, the blue spirit beast flapped his ears, looking up at Keiko.

She smiled down at him. "You could always help me blackmail him, isn't that right Puu."

"Puu!" he agreed.

"Hey, Botan,' Botan turned to Fay who leaned closer to whisper. "Why don't you work on their relationship?"

Botan sweat dropped. "I thought you knew Yusuke, he's harder to work with than a brick."

"Enough with the emotional talk." Shizuru walked back in carrying some snacks. "Fill me in on what happened while I was gone."

* * *

The large office was found in one of the taller buildings in the San Francisco area.

Within there was a large antique mahogany desk, spread on the ground was a plush carpet of wine red, a bookcase lined the right side of the wall, a glass side table and black sofa near it.

The surroundings were opulent, daunting, yet nothing or no one in the room, was more daunting than the man sitting behind the large desk.

He was dressed in a navy blue business suit that hid a well muscled body. Black hair that reached his waist was held away from a pointed face with high cheekbones. His eyes were red, though sometimes they also appeared orange in color.

Long male hands rested on the desk while his gaze was trained on a figure directly across from his desk.

This figure was that of a young boy around the age of twelve. He had a rounded face, pale violet eyes that seemed more mature and knowing than what would be expected of someone his age, while the hair falling over those eyes was an olive brown. He was dressed in a junior high school uniform of dark grey with a white shirt beneath.

His backpack lay forgotten on the ground near him while he stared at his elder in uncertainty.

"Why me?" the boy asked. "Would it not be better to send Ashriel?"

"No." Azrael answered. "Now that Zadkiel has abandoned us, I will have to rely upon you as our representative. They have already gone up against the others, and I doubt that Arel would make the impression I wished him to make."

The Malaika Azrael spoke off snorted as he flipped through a random book he'd picked off the shelf. "I wouldn't submit myself to such a fancy title anyway." Although all those belonging to the Malaika faction had their own unique features, Arel was the most striking.

His eyes were a golden orange that glinted with secret amusement, his hair was a fiery blond red that seemed as if it could not make up his mind on the color, thus it always seemed to change; sometimes it could be called blond red, others red blond.

His ears were higher on the sides of his head than those of humans, and narrowed into points at the end. Four different earrings dangled from the long ears, glittering in the light of the sun coming from the large windows, and one more dangled from his lip.

His skin was a light brown, dark red fiery swirling tattoos decorated his right cheek, moving down to wrap around his throat. Another tattoo was found around his right bicep.

The black t-shirt he wore was sleeveless and beneath it he wore a golden red t-shirt with only one sleeve that covered the upper half of his unadorned arm. His pants followed the same pattern, with the right leg torn midway down his leg so that the gold of the pants he wore underneath showed. His hands were covered by black gloves that had the fingers torn away, and his nails were filed to a point and colored a ruby red.

His excuse was that fire was not inconspicuous, so neither should he.

"Hey Azrael, you do know that these books you're hording are really boring right?" He returned the book in his hands to the shelf and picked up another one, quickly flipping through the pages. "I mean what is up with all these long words…adro…androgy…man I can't even make it out. Who reads this stuff?"

"You are holding a dictionary idiot." Hakel commented coldly.

Arel closed the book and looked at the front. "Oh…right." He set it back on the shelf. "You should get better stuff to read, man. You know, stuff people actually read…hey, my comic book!" Arel reached a little further up to grab the Superman comic book he'd forgotten here in their last meeting.

"If we may return to the conversation…" Ashriel prompted.

"As I was saying, Suriel,' Azrael continued. "Out of all of us, you have the less threatening appearance,' he set his hand on a square velvet jewelry box. "So I will entrust you with this mission."

Suriel studied the velvet box. He knew what was hidden within, knew that it had been with them for a very, very long time, ages. He closed his eyes in thought. "I doubt they will underestimate me because I look as I do. Let us remember that they have gone up against Mjrn and Emma. Both have been defeated. I believe my appearance will only put them on higher alert."

"Perhaps, but your manners will balance that out." Azrael countered.

"So…does this mean you truly mean to make me the representative to the Malaika Faction?" Suriel asked quietly.

"Yes."

"And…if I do not find what you believe I will…do I then have the authority to do what must be done?"

Silence descended, every second feeling heavier.

"Yes." Azrael finally answered.

"Azrael, you cannot-" Azrael shot Hakel a withering look.

"You will not tell me what I can and cannot do, Hakel." He reprimanded in a whisper that lashed out like a whip, making her take a step back. "This has gone on long enough. I grow tired. Suriel will do what he must, in that I do trust." His gaze returned to Suriel, his hand pushing the box across the desk. "This meeting is adjourned."

Suriel picked up the box and bowed. "I will do all in my power to assure that you attain what you seek, Azrael." He turned and headed out, the rest of the faction soon following.

* * *

On her own, Nina knew she could never have been this stealthy, but merged with Hayden, Nina moved like a ninja as she scouted out the temple.

"_Can you spot Fay anywhere?"_ Nina silently asked Hayden.

"_Not yet, but I've never failed in finding my target. We'll find her." _he confidently assured her.

Nina had found it a shock that this world was on its winter cycle rather than summer. She hadn't minded it though, winter meant not a lot of sun, at least here it didn't mean that since it was even snowing, which also meant she didn't have to worry about her cursed skin.

Now if she could just find her friend.

Nina lightly landed atop the temple roof, continued moving without making a sound. She caught sight of a group spread out on the grounds, apparently sparring.

One of them, a bushy redheaded guy took to the sky after a tall figure in black.

'_La! They're coming this way, Hayden!'_

'_On it.' _

Nina moved across the roof, grabbed the edge and fell over it, her hands moving quickly so that they were placed where they wouldn't be visible to the two that flew past.

'_Whew! That was close.' _Nina sighted in relief.

'_Not even.' _Hayden contradicted her. He was not the type to get caught that easily.

Using Nina's eyes, he looked around for somewhere to land without being spotted.

'That should do.'

'_Hold on, Nina.' _

'_To what, you're the one in charge.' _She reminded him.

'_Whatever.' _He replied.

Nina swung back and forth twice, then let go. She fell through the tree branches at the perfect angle to be missed by all of them, her passing only ruffling the closest leaves. She landed on the thick tree branch in a half crouch, her eyes widening when she came face to face with a guy with black spiky hair and red eyes.

He looked just as surprised as she felt.

Nina's first thought was to apologize for interrupting his...nap? And explain what she was doing here but unfortunately for her, it was Hayden who was driving right now, and he had other ideas.

She felt her face turn up in a taunting smirk, her lips open. "What's the matter doll face, cat got your tongue?"

The strange boy's reaction was instantaneous. His expression turned to one of anger, his hand going to the hilt of a sword on his side. "What…did you just call me?" he spoke slowly, danger in every word.

Nina silently shouted for Hayden to apologize, too bad he didn't listen.

Her smirk intensified. "Did you not understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

The blade swung forward, Nina ducking to avoid it. Her body moved into a summersault, her right leg kicking out at the same time. Her foot connected with the boy's wrist.

His hand involuntarily opened, the sword clattering down to the snow covered ground.

By then Nina had reached the edge of the tree branch and back flipped, landing in a crouch on the white snow.

No sooner had she landed, the boy was there. Her eyes strayed to the sword on the snow, but she quickly dismissed it, only watching as the red eyed boy picked it up and charged her once again.

She dodged every swing of the blade, though found herself hard pressed thanks to his speed.

'_La! He's really fast.'_ Nina exclaimed, wincing inside when the sword came a little too close for comfort.

'_I know that, but he's angry.' _Hayden replied.

'_Like I can't tell?' _Nina said drily. _'The point is that you're going to get us killed!'_

"Is dodging all you can do?" the boy mocked. "Because if it is, prepare to die."

The taunting smirk returned to Nina's lips. "Isn't that what you've been trying to do for the last minute, doll face?"

'_You're making him angrier! Stop calling him that and apologize damn it!' _She had too many plans to get killed today.

'_You should trust me a little more; I know exactly what I'm doing.'_

Their conversation took seconds, and in that time the boy had disappeared and she'd donned her winter gloves. Hayden would admit that the boy was fast…too bad his moves were predictable.

Nina turned as the boy reappeared behind her, her movement ceasing when the blade pressed up close to her throat.

'_He's a little too close don't you think?'_ Hayden commented mildly.

'_He's also shorter than me.' _Nina couldn't help noticing. All the boys she'd ever met, that were over the age of thirteen, were usually taller than her or about her height.

More importantly though… _'He has a sword to my throat!'_

The boy smirked in triumph. "Any last words?"

"Yeah,' she replied calmly. "Never get this close to your opponent, Hiei." Her arm shot out, striking him.

His eyes widened in surprise, the hand holding his sword opened without his say so, the sword falling to the snow. 'I can't move.'

Nina stepped back, avoiding the blade, her gaze moving to those who had surrounded her. One of them had his forefinger pointed at her as if it were a gun.

"You have till the count of three to undo whatever you did to Hiei before I kick your ass." He warned her.

"Hold it, Urameshi! She's a girl! We can't fight a girl!"

"She pushed a pressure point on Hiei's body." A red hair boy explained, his eyes trained on her. "For your sake, I hope it was not a deadly one, nor one that will have consequences for him."

'_Now can I take over?' _Nina asked.

'_If you must.' _Hayden responded with a sigh.

"Well girl?" a young woman with pink hair said. "We're waiting for an answer."

"And it better be a good one." A young boy with a hat on warned her.

"It's okay, I just immobilized him. It was that or get sliced in half." Nina said. "I'm sorry for my…err…less than wonderful introduction but I was kind of in the back seat. Just hold on a minute." If she left the guy like that any longer, his anger would probably burn her back.

She touched the pressure point, quickly stepping away when he regained the ability to move. "La! Before you go for the sword, sorry about Hayden. He's my ghost, and kind of cocky. Technically, he was the one you were fighting."

"You're still a trespasser, and obviously from a faction. So I'm still going to kill you." Hiei picked up his sword, raising it to point at her.

"I am from a faction but I'm not after Fay, I'm actually a friend of hers. Besides, the Shaman Faction bowed out of the Supremacy Wars a few hundred years ago so put that away before you hurt someone!"

"The last 'friend' of hers that visited was an insane demon bent on killing all of us and torturing Fay." A tall man dressed in black said. "Sorry if we're not all that welcoming."

"Now hold it mates, we should give the sheila a chance to explain herself." Chu turned to regard her. "She had a chance to kill Hiei, but he hasn't corked it yet."

Nina nodded enthusiastically. "That's right! Besides, I knew Dante was big trouble but Fay wouldn't listen to me! So there." She turned to glare at Hiei. "And would you mind toning it down? You're starting to give me a headache!"

"And I'm supposed to understand what you're talking about?" Hiei scoffed.

Nina winced and set a hand to the side of her head, rubbing gently. "No, I guess not. The point is I'm not an enemy. I'm here to help you protect Fay and-"

"Hey, guys. It's going to get dark soon and dinners' almost read- Nina?" The last word held surprise.

Nina whirled around at the sound of her voice, her grimace changing into a smile. "Fay!" she started running to her, only to come to screeching halt when three of the boys; Hiei, the tall dark one, and the bushy red haired one set themselves in her way.

"I wouldn't go taking a step closer if I were ye." The red haired warned.

Nina huffed. "La! I already told you I'm here to help protect Fay not kidnap her! I'm her friend, so move your rears before I do it for you!"

"Try it." Hiei dared her. "You think we're stupid enough to trust someone in a faction? Besides which you haven't explained how you know my name."

"Guys Nina's a friend, she wouldn't hurt me." Fay tried to reason with them.

Hiei glanced back at her from the corner of his eye. "And Dante was what, your pet?"

Fay winced. "Okay, you have a point, but Nina's different. I mean, she hasn't put up a battle field. Even Isis did that at the beginning."

"That's right." Nina said self righteously. "And if you must know, Hayden told me your name when he spoke it out loud. He knows it because he was spying on you in that fight against the demon faction…" On second thought, maybe that hadn't been the best thing to say, she could feel the suspicion directed at her rise.

**AN: Sorry for the delay, class work just keeps piling up. Till next chapter, R&R**

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_You aren't here to do that right?"_

"_Just for the record, I did warn you." _

"_Why do you want to see him so badly?"_

"_No one told me anything about that!"_


	50. Chapter 50: Silent Night

Chapter 49: Silent Night

"Uh...let me rephrase that." Nina said quickly. "You see my ghost, her name's Iliana. She was walking...I mean on her way to meet us when she spotted Isis and-"

"There's a simple way to solve this." Touya interrupted her. "Let Hiei read your thoughts." Hopefully that wouldn't do as much damage as what Nina had been about to say, if he'd guessed correctly.

Nina wrinkled her nose, taking a few more steps away. "Does it look like I'm insane? There's no way I'm letting him read my thoughts!"

"It's not like it's going to hurt you." Fay reasoned. "He's always reading my thoughts."

Nina shot her a look. "It's different, okay. I am a Shaman, letting someone read my mind is a hazard." Especially someone like him.

"So exactly how do you want to prove you're not some sort of spy?" Suzuka asked.

"La! I shouldn't have too!" she grumbled loudly.

"Hold on a minute." Yusuke walked past his friends to Nina, who turned to him, her expression wary.

He stepped closer, an intense expression on his face.

"Wh-what?" Nina hoped she didn't have anything on her face, and what was this guy doing?

He finally stepped back and patted her on the shoulder. "She's okay guys." He told the others. "I think if she were trying to spy on us or after Fay, she'd be trying to be nicer. And she definitely wouldn't have attacked Hiei."

"You sure about that?" Rinku asked.

Yusuke glanced over at Kuwabara. "Hey, you get a bad feeling from her Kuwabara?"

Kuwabara frowned, concentrating on her. "No, I'm not getting anything bad from her." he pointed. "It's more like what she's hiding under her jacket, but it's not bad."

"Well?" Yusuke turned back to Nina. "What do you have under there?"

"You mean my necklace?" Nina pulled out the thin silver chain. From it hung three pink pearls. "This is where my ghosts rest."

"Really?" Yusuke asked, studying the pearls. They didn't look all that special to him.

"Is that even possible?" Shishi asked.

"Normally it wouldn't, but this pearls aren't ordinary, they're enchanted and were created with a very special material. So yes, it is possible." She dropped the chain back around her neck and placed her hands on her hips. "So, is this inquisition over, or are we waiting for the Spanish to get here?"

Kurama chuckled, even as the others looked puzzled. "I believe Yusuke is right. There is no reason for us to fear her."

"Fay, what's taking so long in getting those boys-oh hello, who are you?" Botan examined the new arrival.

A girl dressed in black winter boots with violet flowers on them, black tights, a short dark grey blue dress with a diamond pattern of dark violet on it and a grey winter jacket, looked back at her.

"Nina." Fay answered for her friend. "Remember I talked about her before?"

Botan thought about it her eyes soon lighting up as she remembered. "That's right! I remember now. You're the girl who gave Fay that advice on how to get over Kurama."

Nina frowned. She did what now?

"I think you might want to revise your formula though, it didn't quite work with her." Botan stepped out, approaching the girl.

"Botan, you weren't supposed to tell anyone that!" Fay protested loudly, her face turning red.

"Exactly when did this happen?" Kurama inquired mildly.

"Oh you know,' Botan said. "Back when she didn't want to take my advice and...uh..."

She trailed off when Fay glared at her, fire in her eyes.

"Oops, me and my big mouth." She laughed it off, turning to Nina. "It's so nice to meet a friend of Fay's who's not out to kidnap, kill or otherwise torture us and her." She paused, as if thinking it over. "You aren't here to do that right?"

"Of course not." Nina answered self righteously. "I'm here to help look after Fay, I've been doing it for a long time anyway, and just for the record; that formula only works on crush-what do you mean get over Kurama!"

Nina looked over at Fay, who still stood behind the three boys, except now the other red haired boy, apparently named Kurama, had joined them.

Nina grabbed Botan by the shoulders, shaking her as she demanded answers. "Why's Fay wearing a dress? What did you mean by what you said?I want answers!"

"You might want to let her go now." Yusuke suggested.

Nina blinked, finally realizing that Botan's eyes were whirling. "Oops." She let go, Botan to dropping to the snow.

"You okay?" Nina asked, crouching next to Botan.

"Yeah, just please try not doing that again." Botan let Nina help her to her feet and dusted off the snow. "Okay everyone, let's go inside, its way to cold out here and dinner's ready." She looked at Nina. "And afterwards I'll tell you all about it."

"No you won't!" Fay denied heatedly.

Botan ignored her, turning to everyone else. "And all of you should introduce yourselves."

"That's not necessary." Nina said. "Hayden just finished introducing you to me."

The group turned to her, some of them with suspicion in their eyes.

Nina sweat dropped. 'Note to self...stop doing that.'

"Whose Hayden?" Botan asked.

"Uhh...I'll explain that later." Nina promised, grabbing Fay by the arm and dragging her along with her.

Inside, Fay introduced Nina to the rest of the girls who welcomed her warmly, once it was established she wasn't there to kidnap anyone, and after dinner showed her to the hot springs.

Trying to keep Botan from saying too much to her friend, or the reverse, Fay followed them to the hot springs, but ended up getting out first after Nina told the girls about the llama incident.

'So much for keeping secrets.' Now she just needed to keep any of them from telling the boys about it, Kurama especially.

'They just met, so how come those two look like they've been friends forever?' Maybe it had to do with both Botan and Nina's attachment to gossip.

'That's it! I'm going to bed!' Fay finished drying her hair, put on her blue pajamas, and headed back to her room.

"Maybe you should try it twice more, as they say; third time's the charm."

Fay stopped in front of Kuronue's door, looking up at the black haired bat demon. "Try what?"

He stepped closer, leaning down so he was face to face with her, his long unbound black hair falling over his shoulder. "Getting over Kurama of course."

It was times like these Fay wished Hiei was around, he could probably tell her what Kuronue meant by that. "Why would I do that? I love Kurama."

He leaned in closer. Fay would have stepped away but he placed a hand behind her head, trapping her. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"Have a talk with Touya, he'll tell you. Now could you let go, you're kinda in my personal space." A few more inches, and Fay would have to resort to beating him to a pulp...or roughing him up to an inch of his life.

"I could help you, you know." He whispered.

Fay curled her right hand into a fist. "Just for the record, I did warn you."

He grabbed her right arm before her fist could connect; she brought up her left fist only to have him grab that one too.

'This is stupid! What the hell is he trying to pull!' Fay didn't know why Kuronue was acting this way, maybe he ate something that was bad for bat demons, but if he thought she didn't remember she could use her legs to kick his ass, he was wrong!

"Fay."

Both turned their heads to the left when Shishi spoke.

"Hey guys, what's up?" She glared up at Kuronue, and after a few more seconds he finally stepped away, letting go of her.

"We'll continue this later." He promised her, closing the door behind him.

"Not until you're not messed up anymore!" she shouted after him, then turned back to Shishi and Suzuka.

"So what's up?" she asked.

"I never thought I'd meet anyone as oblivious as you." Suzuka said, sounding disbelieving.

Shishi nodded in agreement.

"What?" Was she missing something?

"Go ask the girls about it." Shishi turned, heading back to his room. He wasn't getting involved in this.

"You really don't get it do you?" Suzuka asked. The blank expression on her face was answer enough. "Look, the last thing we need is for Kuronue and Kurama to go for each other's throats."

"You're forgetting Jin." Shishi tossed over his shoulder.

"Him too. So I suggest you make it clear to them both."

"They wouldn't do that." Fay reasoned. She saw no reason for them to hurt each other. "Besides, Kurama said that he and Kuronue are like the best of friends, except for Youko. Which reminds me, have you guys seen Youko around lately?"

Suzuka sweat dropped. 'Obviously she can't keep up with one topic of conversation.' Deciding that was as deep as he was getting, he headed after Shishi.

"Hey guys, wait! You didn't answer." Fay started after them. "I think Youko should just come and join us. Safety in numbers and all that, though with his strength I guess he could take care of himself, but still! You guys agree, right, right? Hey I'm talking here!" she shouted, almost blowing Shishi and Suzuka away.

Looking a little disheveled, they both turned back, Suzuka walking up to her.

"You may not understand, but Youko isn't in any danger at the moment so there's no reason to worry about him."

"Believe it or not, he's closer than you think." Shishi added.

"Is...that so?" Fay sighted. "I guess I'll trust you guys on this, just, if you ever do see him, say thanks for me, okay?"

"Why do you want to see him so badly?" Shishi inquired.

"I don't!" Fay protested, then changed her words. "I mean, like I said, I just want to thank him for helping!"

"Oh? And is that why you're blushing?" Suzuka teased.

"I'm not blushing!" she protested loudly.

Suzuka chuckled, ruffling her hair. "Yusuke's right; you are fun to tease."

"No I'm not!"she denied heatedly, batting his hand away.

"There is something I want to ask you." Shishi said. He was going to wait until tomorrow, but since she was here, he might as well get an answer now.

"What?" Fay asked.

"Why can't I use my new attack anymore?" Shishi half demanded.

Fay blinked, her face blank. "Why ask me?"

"You're the one that helped me reach it." He reminded her.

"I don't recall that." She mumbled.

"The point is, you did, and he can't use it anymore." Suzuka said.

"Well...I really couldn't tell you but..." Fay frowned, thinking it over. "What do you call this new attack?"

"Chorus of Imprisoned Souls." Shishi answered.

"Hmm...and the other one, what was it called? Chorus of a thousand ghouls?"

"Skulls." Shishi corrected her. "And if you're wondering, it calls on the souls of demons."

"I see..." Fay crossed her arms over her chest, thinking it over. "So maybe...maybe...the reason it doesn't work is because..." She snapped her fingers as it suddenly dawned on her. "Because you need to be in a place where there are actually imprisoned souls!"

"It does sound like a reasonable conclusion." Suzuka said after a few moments of thought. "I should have thought about it before."

Shishi scoffed. "Great, which means I can't always use it." He turned to go. "At least I do know a place where I can test out your theory." Lucky him it wasn't that far away from here.

"Well, good luck with that." Fay called after him.

"You sure you wouldn't prefer to have this back?" Suzuka opened his palm, showing Fay the small fish he still had.

She shook her head. "Nope, like I said; it's come in handy for the others. I'm sure it'll be the same for you." She turned to go. "Night you two, I'll see you guys in the morning." She headed down the hallway to her room.

Suzuka returned the crafted fish to his pocket and caught up to Shishi, only stopping when he realized his friend had stopped as well. "Shishi?"

Shishi stooped, picking up something from the ground. "Looks to me like her bracelet is going to pieces." He stood up showing Suzuka the small bead a shade darker than the fish Suzuka had.

"When did it drop?" Suzuka looked over at where Fay had been. The bead couldn't have dropped from there and rolled all the way here. 'Maybe it fell when she passed by.' But then the bead would show some kind of breakage, and she would have heard it.

"I'll return it to her tomorrow." Shishi said heading for his room.

"You might as well keep it." Suzuka suggested. "I'm sure Fay will tell you the same thing anyway."

"I don't need anyone's help, especially not in battle." Shishi walked into his room, sliding the door close behind him.

'I guess he conveniently forgot she did that already.' Shaking his head, Suzuka headed into his own room.

* * *

'I still don't get it.' Fay sighted, giving up on figuring out what had come over Kuronue. Maybe he'd been drinking with Chu, but in that case he would have smelled of alcohol. 'So I guess we'll just put it down to not enough sleep, or the bad food for bat demons theory.' She picked up the brush, going over her hair until the knots were gone, then opened the window, letting the cold air help dry her hair.

The clouds that had hidden the sun in the daytime were now beginning to break up, the full moon peeking in through them. About to close the window, Fay caught sight of two tall figures illuminated by the silver light of the moon. 'Youko!'

He stood near the trees facing Kuronue. It was too far to really tell, but Fay guessed they must be talking, she just didn't know why they both looked so serious. 'I guess Shishi was right, he is closer than I thought he was.' She leaned further out the window, hoping to get a clearer view of him. As she did, the wind sped up, sending shivers down her body, her hair fluttering around her like a curtain caught in the wind.

Fay wasn't very certain, but she thought Youko looked her way. She blinked, and both he and Kuronue were gone.

'No wait!' Fay gripped the window sill, about to leap out when the door to the room opened.

"Why is the window open when it's so cold outside?" Botan asked, shivering.

"Oh...sorry." Fay looked back outside, but didn't spot either again so she reluctantly closed the window. "I just wanted my hair to dry out a little more."

"You could use a hair drier." Botan suggested. "At least that way you won't be in danger of catching a cold."

"Yeah." Fay walked over to her futon, sitting down on it with a sigh.

Noticing, Yukina knelt in front of her. "Fay, is something wrong? You're usually a lot more cheerful."

Finally noticing herself, Botan joined them. "Yukina's right, and I know it can't be our teasing, that's never done it before, so..." her eyes widened in alarm. "Don't tell me you had a fight with Kurama!" That was impossible right? Fay loved him too much, and Kurama wasn't the type to argue.

Fay shook her head. "No, it's...just that I'm tired." She smiled brightly up at them. "Yeah, that's it. I'm tired."

"Well...if you say so." Botan didn't sound very convinced.

Fay stood. Before she went to bed, she wanted to see Kurama. "I'll be right back."

"Are you going to say goodnight to Nina?" Yukina asked.

"Uhh...yeah, I am. I'll be right back." Hopefully this way she wouldn't be trailed by Ms. Sneaky cat.

"Alright, but don't take too long." Botan called after her.

"I won't." she called back.

Deciding she might as well, Fay headed down to the other room, but she hadn't even knocked when Keiko opened the door, looking a little surprised to see her on the other side.

"Hi, Nina still awake?" Fay asked.

"Yes, she is." Keiko stepped out into the corridor, making way for Fay.

Fay peeked in, spotting Nina on the newly laid out futon. "Hey Nina, done blabbing out all my secrets?" She asked dryly.

"I'm still saving some for the occasional blackmail." Nina reassured her with a smile.

"Gee, thanks." Fay drawled. "Well, I just wanted to say night. Night Shizuru."

"Same to you,' Shizuru said. "If no one from the factions come knocking that is."

"Let's hope not." Keiko said. She closed the door and headed down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Fay asked, heading after her.

"I just forgot my book bag, so I'm going to get it."

"Then I'll come with you, if you don't mind." She could go see Kurama after that.

"No, of course not." Keiko replied.

The two girls walked towards the front of the temple, stopping when they heard shouting coming from another room.

"Don't tell me they're still playing around." Keiko opened the door to Kuwabara shouting at Yusuke.

"You have to be cheating Urameshi! There's no way I could lose at this game!"

"You just did so stop acting like a sore loser!" Yusuke shouted back.

"Okay, that's it! Forget the stupid games! You and me Urameshi!"

"Bring it!"

"Hold it, now,' Jin stepped between them, taking the controller from Kuwabara. "Ye can be pounding each other after I beat Urameshi."

"Now you hold it,' Rinku grabbed the controller. "You went before Kuwabara so it's my turn."

Sitting on a low table, bottle in hand and looking half asleep, Chu hiccupped. "Urameshi and I still have a brawl to settle so don't go getting any ideas." He said his voice slurred.

"Again? He beat you three times in a row already." Rinku said.

"I was letting him!" Chu shouted, hiccupped and fell on his back, spotting both girls.

"The sheilas are here."

The other boys turned to the door, Jin grinning and rushing forward. "Fay!"

He enveloped the surprised girl in a hug, floating both of them a few inches from the ground.

"Hey Jin, shouldn't you guys be heading to bed?" Fay asked.

"We were training most of the day." Yusuke said. "No way am I going to sleep without a bath."

"So why are you wasting your time playing video games, Yusuke?" Keiko demanded. "You do know we're going to school tomorrow, right?"

"What!" Yusuke exclaimed in dismay. "No one told me anything about that! Besides, aren't we on winter vacation now?"

"Tomorrow's the last day of school before winter vacation starts." Keiko explained. "Since we've already missed so many days it's only fair we show up for the last day."

"No way!" Yusuke retorted. "Besides, if I go whose gonna stay and make sure everyone else doesn't lose Fay?"

"I resent that!" Fay protested.

"Aye, so do I," Jin said. "I'm not the one who went loosing Fay. That was ye. I be the one who found her."

"Hey, don't take all the credit." Rinku protested. "I found her too."

"Don't go messing up the facts." Chu sat up, his foot hitting the table. He grabbed the bottle before it could tip over and spill its contents. "If I recall, it was because of me that we were in that forest."

"Aye, but I'm the one that found her when she went missing." Jin reminded him.

"That was just once!" Yusuke interrupted them. "And I'm still going to beat up that gold dragon when he shows up, which means I have to stay near Fay just in case he comes back."

"Then it won't be a problem." Keiko said. "Fay's coming with us too."

"I am?" Fay asked, half dismay half surprise.

Keiko turned to her. "I thought it would be a good idea, don't you?" The smile on her face dared her to say no.

"Yeah...that sounds like a good idea." Fay agreed, not daring to argue.

"Thanks a lot." Yusuke grumbled. "So what about dufus boy over here?" he pointed at Kuwabara with his thumb.

"Watch it Urameshi!"

"He's coming too of course, I'm sure Shizuru will insist on it, right Kuwabara?"

"Uhh...right." Kuwabara knew Shizuru would agree with Keiko, and he didn't feel like getting beat up by his sister again, especially not in front of all the guys.

"Then that's settled, I'll see you two bright and early tomorrow." Keiko turned back to Fay. "Let's go."

"Mind letting go of me, Jin?" Fay asked, trying to wriggle free of his hold.

"Aye, I do mind." He snuggled closer to her, to her growing annoyance, his pointed ears wiggling. "But I could be letting ye go if ye were to do me a wee bit favor."

"And what's that?" Fay asked, wondering when she'd turned into a stuffed toy.

He grinned. "I'm wanting a kiss since I didn't get one before."

"You can catch up when you're done here, Fay." Keiko waved goodbye as she headed down the hallway.

'Wait, Keiko! Don't leave me!' Fay silently wailed.

"You know,' Yusuke commented. "If Kurama finds out he's going to be mad."

"I can take em." Jin said.

"No one's taking anyone, besides it's just a kiss. I don't see why Kurama would get mad over that." Fay reasoned.

"I don't know,' Kuwabara said. "I agree with Yusuke, Kurama's not gonna like it."

Rolling her eyes, Fay ignored them and kissed Jin on the cheek. "There, can you put me down now? But first," Fay pointed down.

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Rinku, and Chu were now looking up at them. "Let's get just a little closer to the ground."

"Aye." Grinning, Jin descended, setting down Fay once his feet touched the floor. He'd wanted another type of kiss, but for now he was content with this one.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later." Fay waved over her shoulder as the others called their good nights, and headed to the front of the temple.

* * *

'There it is.' Keiko picked up the book bag she'd forgotten, looking up when she heard Puu. "Hey there Puu, where have you been?" Puu landed in her arms, looking over at the hallway where Genkai headed her way.

"Just as a precaution try not staying on your own for very long." Genkai said. "The demons may have been dealt with but you never know when another idiot's going to follow in their footsteps."

"But wouldn't that get them in trouble with Mary Anne?" Keiko asked.

"Just because something's stupid doesn't mean there aren't dimwits out there who won't try it twice, even three times." Genkai said. "Take Yusuke and Fay for instance. Both have enough brains to know when something is dangerous and might kill them, but you don't see that stopping them."

Keiko sweat dropped. "Alright, I'll be more careful."

"Come on, I'll take you back to your room."

The two were heading down the corridor when there was a loud knock on the door behind them.

"Who could be calling at this time of night?" Keiko wondered looking back at the door.

"Stay here." Genkai strode back to the entrance, using her senses to scan the outside.

'One boy, why do I get the feeling this isn't a normal boy.' She cautiously opened the door, ready to attack if necessary.

The boy smiled politely, bowing to her. "I apologize for disturbing you at such a late hour; however my errand is of some importance. My name is Suriel, and I represent the Malaika faction."

"And what's so important that it couldn't have waited until morning?" Genkai demanded.

"I apologize, but I cannot reveal that until I speak to Ms. Fay." Suriel said. "Of course, I do not expect to speak to her alone."

Genkai was silent as she contemplated an answer, finally she spoke. "Keiko."

"Yes?"

Suriel glanced past Genkai, bowing politely to Keiko when he spotted her.

"Go get the boys and Fay, meet us at the front living room."

"Oh, okay." Keiko headed down the corridor, meeting Fay as she headed her way.

"We need to get the boys." Keiko said, passing her by.

"Why, did something happen?" Fay turned about, following Keiko.

"There's someone here from the Malaika faction, he says it's important that he talk to you."

Fay paused, looking back down the corridor. 'Then maybe I should go see what he wants.' He hadn't attacked, and there was no battle field up so... 'I'll just go take a peek.'

"Don't even think about it Fay." Yusuke set a restraining hand on her shoulder. "This is what gets you kidnapped."

While Fay had been pondering what to do, Keiko had informed Yusuke and those with him what was going on. Now she headed to inform the rest of the boys.

"Come on, we'll go wait for the others." He tugged her with him, shooting her a glare to make sure she wouldn't get any ideas.

"I was just curious." She grumbled.

"Right,' Yusuke drawled. "Because that's turned out great for cats."

"Do I look like a cat?"

"No, I think you might be worse." Kuwabara said.

Fay tried kicking him but he dodged. "Don't get me wrong, I love cats, but Eikishi does like to get into a lot of stuff."

"Whose Eikishi? Are we still talking about the Malaika?" Fay asked puzzled.

"Don't you think it's kind of suspicious that he's just asking to talk?" Rinku asked.

"Yeah, but with all of us there to kick his ass maybe he'll reconsider whatever he's planning." Yusuke said. Unless whoever this was could call on back up, then they'd have to kick his ass quickly.

* * *

_Next Chapter Preview_

_I bring with me a…challenge, test if you will..."_

"_And what do you think Kurama is?"_

"…_it is the reason the Malaika faction came into being…"_

"_He ruined everything!"_


	51. Chapter 51: Unseen Movement

Chapter 50: Unseen Movement

Not long after they settled into the living room, most of the others joined them, including the girls, but Fay didn't see either Kurama or Kuronue. She knew Kuronue had left with Youko, but where was Kurama?

She asked Hiei when he entered but he just gave her one of his looks. "I don't keep tabs on Kurama. He'll show up when he wants too."

'A lot like you.' Fay thought sitting down next to him.

He shot her another look but otherwise stayed silent as Genkai joined them, a young boy in tow.

He had the same type of innocent, sweet face Zadkiel had, making Fay wonder if they were related.

"Hello, I apologize once more for the inconvenience of the hour," he bowed.

"Just get to whatever reason it is you're here for, and you better not make a wrong move." Yusuke warned.

Suriel nodded in understanding and sat at the low table Genkai gestured too. He set down the velvet box wrapped in a white handkerchief before turning to those in the room.

"My name is Suriel. The leader of the Malaika faction has sent me here as his representative. I bring with me a...challenge, test if you will, for Ms. Fay." He focused on her. "It will not be difficult, and if you fail it, then I have been given permission to retire our faction from the Supremacy Wars."

"And what if she does not fail this test?" Kurama stepped into the living room followed by Kuronue.

"Kurama!" Fay bolted across the room, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, frowning when she realized he was freezing. "What were you doing outside, you're so cold." She placed a hand to his cheek, worry in her eyes.

"There is no reason for you to worry Fay. A little cold will not harm me." He assured her, setting his own hand over hers.

"I've been outside too." Kuronue interrupted. "Shouldn't you be worried about me too?"

Fay looked up at him, blinking owlishly. "But you're a demon; doesn't that mean the cold doesn't affect you like it does humans?"

Kuronue sweat dropped. "And what do you think Kurama is?"

"He's like Yusuke and Kuwabara." Fay answered, with a 'that should be obvious' tone.

Kuronue's eye twitched, his expression one of disbelief, but when Kurama shot him a look, he turned away. "Of course."

Suriel cleared his throat loudly to regain their attention. "To answer your question,' he tilted his head in acknowledgment to Kurama. "If she does pass, I don't believe Azrael will give up on her very easily."

"Why should I care what he wants in the first place?" Fay demanded. "I'm still angry about what he did to my sister and Zadkiel!"

"Yes, his actions do require an explanation." Kurama took Fay's hand and led her back to where she'd been sitting, setting himself next to her.

"Azrael did what he did to…' Suriel closed his eyes. "To test Fay."

"Test her for what?" Nina asked. "Doesn't he know that Fay fails eight out of ten tests?"

"I do not!" Fay glared over at her friend, who looked away with an innocent expression.

"It was not an academic test." Suriel explained. "It was more a…test of the soul."

"Could you elaborate?" Kurama inquired.

"In order for you to understand, I must tell you a story," Suriel said. "One that took place in the third age of Midgard."

"Midwhat?" Yusuke asked frowning.

"Midgard, another name for mid-earth." Kurama explained.

"Oh…okay, so why the heck would we need to know this story to understand what Azrael did?" Yusuke asked.

"Because…it is the reason the Malaika faction came into being, the reason why Azrael will do whatever he deems necessary."

"Then get on with it and tell us,' Hiei said impatiently. "You're wasting our time."

"As you wish,' Suriel replied. "I will make it as short as I can, so I ask that you listen to me before asking your questions."

When no one answered, Suriel began his story. "Before the fall of Midgard's third age, there existed a group that guarded the, back then, weapon known as The Right. This group's name was The Order of Eilisione. The Malaika was once part of that order and we served faithfully. Back then Azrael was one of the highest ranking members of the order.

"This all began with our return to the Order's headquarters from a...mission to another city. However on our way there, the skies opened and poured rain down upon us, so we had little choice but to take refuge in the home of a well to do gentleman. You see, back then everyone knew who we were and what we guarded, thus we were honored wherever we went. The gentleman saw is it as an honor to host us."

He paused, his gaze distant as the memories danced in his mind. "This gentleman had a very beautiful daughter by the name of Kathleen, or at least that is the translation for this age. She was a very kind person. Her soul was what her name meant, pure.

"The rains did not cease for six days, and it took less than that for Azrael to fall in love with her. Before we departed he asked her to marry him and she agreed. Kathleen returned with us to headquarters, where Azrael announced he would be giving up his position in the Order within a month. However, he did not count on the jealousy of a member of the order by the name of Invidia. She had long been pursuing him, though I believe he was unaware of her feelings.

"On the day he was to leave, he found Kathleen lying dead in her bed, blood dripping from her sliced throat. Invidia admitted to having done this and in retaliation, Azrael killed her. I believe she knew Azrael would wait as long as it took to find Kathleen in another life, so while she lay dying, Invidia cast a curse. 'Never shall you see her, until the sun rises on a fourth age, and the Right takes human form. Only then might you find her, by weapon in human shape'. I do not believe Invidia ever thought the third age would end, neither did she believe The Right would take human form." He focused on Fay once more, his stare so intense that it made her want to squirm.

"He left the Order that day, and we left with him. In time we became a faction and quested after The Right, but not because of power, but because Azrael has always believed that it would lead us to Kathleen. Now he believes that it means you, Ms. Fay, hold the soul of his beloved."

'Oh hell no.' Fay silently fumed. There was no way she both held a whole lot of power she couldn't even use, and was also the reincarnation of Azrael's late girlfriend.

"He must really love her, to wait so long for her." Keiko said.

"Yes, it does sound very romantic." Botan added, sighing quietly over it.

Next to Koto, Juri nodded. 'Now that's the kind of guy I'd definitely go for.'

"And this tests you were talking about,' Touya said. "I take it they're somehow related to finding out if your leader's assumption is true?" To him something felt off, besides, he glanced over at Fay, she just didn't match the personality. Fay was kind, that was true, but he didn't think his definition of that word regarding her, and Suriel's definition of it was the same.

"I do not agree with your assumption." Kurama said, tone defiant. "Fay is not the reincarnation of this Kathleen." He settled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him to her surprise. "And even if she were, I would not give her up, no not easily."

"To answer both of you,' Suriel glanced first at Touya, then at Kurama. "That is what these tests are about. Azrael does not believe it is a mere assumption, however on the side of caution he…changed Zadkiel's memories, using him to test her. With his personality and looks, Zadkiel is someone easy to admire, fall in love with perhaps. Yet Ms. Fay did not, instead treating him with exasperation and some contempt."

"He dumped my sister,' Fay huffed indignantly. "What, you expected me to give him a medal for that?"

"You did not know that the first time you two met." Suriel replied.

"He was insane!" she snapped.

"Wait…Zadkiel…" Nina frowned as she thought. "You mean the tall guy with the cute face who came and hugged you that day?"

Fay nodded reluctantly.

"I didn't think he was insane, actually I thought he was really romantic."

"No, he was insane." Fay stated firmly. "And geeky. I mean, who talks like that anyway. Not to mention he is way, waay to old for me."

Nina pursed her lips in disbelief, glancing at Kurama covertly. Apparently, love really was blind. For one, Nina had never thought Fay the type to go for someone like Kurama. Someone like Yusuke or even Jin sure, but not the cute red hair smart ones.

Then again…Nina had never pictured Fay acting the way she did around Kurama either.

She could already picture what Madeline would say about all this if she were ever to find out, and it would not be 'I'm so happy for you.'

"The point being you cared little for him." Suriel continued. "Azrael believed this was proof of who you were...yet...not long after, there were rumors that you loved someone outside the factions." His gaze moved to Kurama who met it with his own steady gaze. "Azrael now believes that all you need is a reminder of your past life, and you shall come to him of your own free will."

"Not likely." Shishi muttered.

"I hate to burst your bubble," Nina chimed in. "But being a Shaman, I can tell a few things about a soul, including how many times they have been reborn. There are three new souls in this room, one of them happens to be Fay."

"Explains a lot about her, don't you think." Suzuka said.

Fay shot him a glare across the room.

'Bet I know who one of the others is.' Genkai glanced over at Yusuke.

"So who are the other two?" Rinku asked.

"I'm bettin one of 'em is you." Chu told Rinku.

"Well I'm betting it's you!" Rinku turned to Nina. "Well?"

Nina looked away. "Not telling."

"Aww, come on." Rinku whined.

Suriel coughed to regain their attention. "If what Ms. Nina says is correct, then Ms. Fay shall fail the next test and I will do as promised."

He reached out, lifting the handkerchief from over the jewelry box. "Ms. Fay, if you please."

Fay looked up Kurama who nodded. She walked over to the table, sitting on the other side while Suriel turned the jewelry box her way. "Do not attempt to fake a reaction; I doubt you will succeed very well."

"Fine, I won't." Fay promised. "Let's just get on with this." Why he thought a necklace or whatever was in there was going to change her mind, she didn't know, but he was going to be disappointed.

He opened the lock and lifted the lid, revealing the contents within.

"Oooh…" Fay's eyes widened, a few gasps sounding to her sides and behind her as the other girls joined her. The pieces were breathtaking, but the feelings coming from added to its beauty.

"How beautiful." Keiko whispered.

"Yes, I've never seen anything like this." Yukina agreed.

"Me neither." Botan said her tone awed, her eyes glued to the pieces.

'This Azrael guy must be loaded.' Koto thought.

'La! That's what I call tempting.' The temptation was somewhat lessened by the feeling blazing out of the jewelry. They were like flames behind glass. Nina could tell what they were, but she also knew they weren't meant for her, which actually made her feel relieved.

Dragging her attention away from the pieces, she looked at the other girls. Even Shizuru and Genkai looked impressed, while the other girls looked almost hypnotized by the pieces.

The necklace was designed as intricate golden feathers that rose upwards to clasps designed to look like two white doves that would intertwine when snapped together.

At intervals on the necklace were flowers made of thin jeweled feathers, at the center a type of glimmering midnight blue stone that winked up at them, as if it had stars trapped within its depths. The necklace was accompanied by a set of earrings, a bracelet, and a ring that followed the same pattern.

"Okay, so they're pretty, mind picking up your jaws from the floor now." Yusuke said.

"As someone who knows how to appreciate the beautiful," Suzuka said self righteously. "I can tell you that these pieces are more than just 'pretty', they're a work of art."

"Aye, I'll give ye that, but how's that a test for Fay?" Jin asked.

"Maybe he's trying to see if she remembers it?" Kuwabara thought out loud. "I mean, something like that would be pretty hard to forget for a girl...I guess."

'_Can you tell if they have a spell on them?'_ Kurama sent to Hiei.

'_They don't.'_ Hiei answered. '_That's just you being jealous, and if you don't do something about Fay's gawking at those things, he may very well start thinking that his leader's assumption is a fact.'_

Ever since meeting Fay, Kurama had had to come to terms with a few facts about himself. One was that he was very possessive, and that often led to jealousy.

The fact that Fay only ever acknowledged his feelings and not those of some of the others, did not necessarily mean he was appeased. He stood.

"Fay."

Tearing her attention from the jewelry, Fay turned to Kurama. He held out a hand to her. "Come here." It wasn't a request, but an order he expected to be obeyed.

She stood and joined him while Suriel watched.

"Fay is not who you seek." Kurama stated firmly, wrapping his arms possessively around her waist.

"That is for Ms. Fay to decide." Suriel returned.

"They're really beautiful." Fay admitted. "And I can feel a lot of emotion in them, but it's not meant for me. Kurama's right, I'm not this Kathleen."

Suriel gave a nod in acknowledgment. "Then I must accept that."

"If he ever wants a new girlfriend I'll be happy to volunteer," Juri pipped up.

Suriel smiled warmly at her. "Thank you for the offer, however I do not believe Azrael will give up the search for his beloved."

He closed the jewelry box and wrapped it in the handkerchief as he stood. "Now I will keep my side of the deal. Guardian of Midgard, I summon thee forth."

Mary Anne appeared a few feet from Suriel, a bucket of popcorn in one hand, a soda in the other. "Make it quick Malaika, I'm busy."

Yusuke opened his mouth to comment but Genkai bumped him with her elbow. "Not now Yusuke."

"As the dully appointed representative of the my faction by my leader, Azrael, I concede defeat and withdraw the Malaika Faction from the Supremacy Wars."

"Acknowledged and accepted." Mary Anne replied formally. "Be it known that if either you or anyone in your faction ever breaks this agreement and decides to go after The Right, they forfeit their lives."

"Agreed."

Without another word, Mary Anne disappeared.

Suriel regarded those in the room. "Thank you for listening to me, and once more I apologize for the lateness of the hour. Goodbye."

"I'll see him out." Genkai said, heading after Suriel.

"That's it?" Rinku asked in disbelief. "I really thought he'd try something else."

"It does seem a little suspicious." Touya agreed.

"I'm still getting a weird feeling, like we're missing something." Kuwabara muttered.

"The same here." Shizuru said. "I can't shake the feeling that they're not done with us yet."

"If they try anything else they'll be Mary Anne's problem." Yusuke shrugged it off. "You heard what she said, and he agreed to it."

"You humans have a saying,' Kuronue said. "There is more than one way to skin a cat."

"I don't like that saying,' Kuwabara grumbled. "Who'd want to skin a poor defenseless kitty?"

While the others talked it over, Yusuke noticed Keiko leaving the room, but put it down to her going to bed. 'Wouldn't want to get up late tomorrow, now would we.' It also reminded him that he'd better get to bed soon. 'Hell, maybe they'll try something in the morning and I won't have to go to school after all.'

* * *

Keiko headed down the corridor, catching up to Genkai and Suriel at the front entrance where the two were talking. Suriel stopped speaking when he caught sight of her. "Hello Ms. Keiko."

"Hi."

"He's leaving." Genkai turned from Suriel, joining her. "And we should be heading back."

"Right,' Keiko looked from Genkai to Suriel. "But...I...I know it's none of my business, and my words might not mean anything to you, but those feelings, in the jewelry; I think it's time your friend let go of them. I mean, if this Kathleen loved him wouldn't she want him to move on, find someone who could really make him happy? I know I'm not the only one who felt what the jewelry has, and maybe that's why it was so appealing to all of us,' she smiled. "Including Fay. But she's not this Kathleen, whoever she is, she's not here."

Her expression saddened. "But I just think it's really sad for anyone to wait this long for someone who might never return. Or maybe she has, but she's married or already passed away. I'm sorry; I just wanted to say that."

Suriel gazed at her silently, then his eyes brightened and he smiled, but his voice was somber when he spoke. "I often wondered, back then and even now, if Kathleen had truly loved Azrael. I know she must have had some feelings to agree to marry him, but the way we were so highly thought of back then...perhaps those feelings were more of an obligation towards her family, to make them proud of her, rather than love towards Azrael."

"That's really sad." Keiko whispered, tightening her grip on Puu.

"Yes, it is." Suriel bowed. "I will forward your kind words to Azrael, Ms. Keiko. Master Genkai, thank you for allowing me entrance into your home. Goodbye." He turned about and walked out.

The two stood there until he'd closed the door and his steps had faded away.

"You're a very nice girl, Keiko." Genkai said, leading the way back.

"Thank you."

'To bad that's rarely ever enough.' Genkai suspected that they would try something. What, she didn't know, but they would have to keep a closer eye on Fay.

* * *

Suriel had expected it, thus he showed no emotion when Hakel pointed her sword directly at his heart the moment he stepped past the threshold of their home.

"How dare you! Ages! The work of ages thrown to the wind because of your foolish kindness! I should kill you where you stand!"

"That's not for you to decide." Ashriel warned, standing behind her.

"Silence! It is what he deserves!" she snapped harshly.

"Azrael!" Arel sang out, a comic book in hand. "Hakel's threatening to kill someone again, and it's not me!" he sounded like a child telling on a sibling.

"Step away from him, Hakel." Azrael appeared in a flurry of white feathers.

"No!" she looked close to tears. "He ruined everything!"

"I have already said that I trust Suriel to do what he must." Azrael reminded her calmly. "If Suriel has closed this door, it is only because he has made certain that another is open to us."

Hakel narrowed her eyes, glaring at Suriel skeptically. "Is this true?"

"Yes." Suriel replied. "Had we conducted the rest of our business within the bounds of the war, we would have brought the wrath of the hell expelled Guardian down upon all our heads."

Slowly, reluctantly, Hakel removed the sword from its dangerous position. "So...you mean that you..." she trailed off in uncertainty, but Suriel nodded in confirmation.

"We begin preparations immediately." Azrael said into the ensuing silence.

"Aye, aye captain." Arel replied, most of his attention on the comic book. "You think we should buy matching costumes? Nah, that would look geeky. Maybe some type of mask to hide our identi...er mind, they already know who most of us are."

"Take this seriously, Arel." Ezekiel had stood furthest from the group, listening to the conversation, now he turned to go. "And put that poor excuse for a book away."

"Comic book." Arel corrected defensibly. "And it is not useless, you just wouldn't understand it, you emo goth."

"I don't recall ever being either." Ezekiel replied calmly, heading for the stairs.

* * *

"Yusuke get up now!" Keiko knocked loudly on his door. "We're going to be late!"

"It's not even seven in the morning yet!" Yusuke shouted through the door.

"We have to take the train back into the city, how long do you think that's going to take?" Keiko knocked again. "Stop being lazy and get up Yusuke!"

"Fine! Now why don't you go bother Fay or Kuwabara!"

"They're already awake and ready to go! You're the only one who's still in bed, and if you don't hurry up you're not getting any breakfast!"

Keiko heard scrambling inside the room. 'At least he's motivated now.' With a sigh, Keiko headed to the dining room.

Although some of her friends still looked sleepy, everyone was awake, in part thanks to them.

"He wake up?" Fay asked, covering her mouth to hide a yawn.

"Yeah, he should be here soon." She looked at her watch. "He's going to have to rush; we don't want to miss the train."

"Is it really that important that you go to school?" Rinku asked through a mouthful.

Chu knocked him on the head.

"Hey!" Rinku complained.

"No talking while there's still food in yer mouth." Chu said.

'You're one to talk.' Rinku silently grumbled, watching Chu practically inhale his food.

"It's very important." Keiko answered Rinku. "And we've already been absent too long."

"You know, all this reminds me that Christmas is just around the corner." Botan piped up cheerfully. "We need to go shopping for decorations, and a tree, oh and presents too of course."

"I get presents?" Juri turned her full attention to Botan. "I've never heard of this Christmas, but if it means I get presents I don't mind."

"I've heard about it." Kuronue said. "But not much, and it was before I was captured so it's probably changed."

"Don't you worry,' Botan continued cheerfully. "I'll tell you guys all about it."

"I'll help." Nina said. It was actually kind of weird, celebrating Christmas when her head kept telling her it was summer, but she'd adjust quickly. Besides, a Christmas with these guys should be interesting.

"I'm here." Yusuke walked in, sitting himself in a free space and dropping his bag next to him. "Okay so where's my breakfast?"

"You can't get it yourself, Yusuke?" Keiko demanded, hands on hips.

"I'm still sleepy," he complained. "And besides, you're the one who wanted me to wake up so early in the morning."

Shaking her head, Keiko headed for the kitchen. "Fine, I'll get it for you."

"So, where's Kurama?" Yusuke asked, noticing that he wasn't there. "He's usually the first one up."

"He left an hour ago." Fay replied glumly. She'd wanted to go with him, but unlike him, she hadn't been ready, and still mostly asleep. Fay did remember him saying that they'd meet up after school.

'Figures.' Yusuke thought.

"Here's your breakfast, now eat quickly." Keiko told him sternly.

"Fine, fine."

"Touya, Jin. Isis is here." Genkai walked in, Isis next to her.

"Hold on now, I thought ye wouldn't be coming until seven thirty." Jin couldn't help sounding surprised; Isis was a whole hour early.

"There's a time difference between my world and yours." Isis explained with a bored tone. "I won't go into it because it confuses even me." There was only one person she knew who would be interested in all that, and Isis was very glad that person wasn't here. "So let's just say I'm here and you're dead. Let's go."

That's when her gaze settled on the red haired girl sitting with them, her hand tapping the table. "Hello, Isis. Is there something you forgot to tell me?" Nina asked casually.

Isis made a sudden about turn and tried sneaking away.

"Would you stop that, I already saw you!" Nina called after her friend.

Not that Isis her gotten very far, Genkai had blocked her path.

Isis let out a sigh. 'Bother,' she turned back. "Hello Nina, nice to see you here...when you should be in some location in the desert...with the rest of the Shamans."

"Don't try turning this on me." Nina stood. "You're the one that half skewered my best friend and hid her whereabouts from me; England my foot!"

Isis lazily waved her complaints away. "It was on a need to know basis, and well...now you know."

Nina stomped over to her. "I am so not letting you off the hook that easily! You owe me, and I'll tell you what just as soon as I come up with something."

"Right...' Isis scratched her cheek. "Shouldn't you be, you know, leaving?"

Nina smirked. "Nope, I'm staying here. So you'll just have to deal."

This was so much worse than sleepovers. 'Well...there's always that.' A lazy smirk crossed her features a second before her hand jerked outward, trying to grab onto Nina, who jumped back like a startled cat.

"What the hell was that?" Yusuke asked between bites. "Don't tell me you're afraid of a little punch?"

He and the others had watched the exchange between Magus and Shaman, who apparently had known about each other long before. Fay was not happy with that certain fact. Had she been the only one left out of the loop?

"She wasn't trying to punch me,' Nina glared at her friend. "She was trying to shock me...though not in the conventional way."

"That isn't making any sense." Jin said.

"Mind explaining for the rest of us?" Kuronue asked.

"Simple enough." Isis said, wondering why it was that when she was with this group, she often found herself having to talk more than usual. "Shamans are very sensitive to outside influences, particularly strong feelings."

"You mean like an empath?" Shizuru asked.

Isis nodded. "Something like that. They keep themselves open to the world of the spirits and nature, and that also creates a hazard when it comes to strong emotions. They don't have a problem with their own, but other people's feelings are another story. If you haven't noticed, the clothes she's wearing right now keep her from direct contact with anyone."

They turned to study Nina, who was still glaring at Isis. She had on a green turtleneck top with long sleeves, wore black jeans and socks, even her hands were covered by gloves.

"It sounds a little like what Hiei does, but instead of thoughts, you read feelings." Botan muttered, thinking out loud. Which reminded her, Hiei had disappeared about half an hour ago. Not that, that was surprising.

"That's one way of putting it." Nina admitted reluctantly. She'd been hoping to keep this half of her so called 'talent' under wraps.

"Of course, if the force of the emotions is strong enough, whatever she's wearing won't be enough to keep her safe." Isis added. It's why she'd learned the neat trick of concentrating certain feelings...or faking them. Fright seemed to pack a punch on Isis.

"So that's why I sometimes saw you doing that at school." Fay said, thinking back on those times. She'd just thought Nina was avoiding being pinched.

"It also makes Shamans lousy liars,' Isis smirked, "And by extension lousy actors."

"La! I am not a lousy actor!" Nina fumed. "I just haven't met an agent that recognizes actual talent!"

"You want to be an actor?" Botan asked curiously.

"She wants to attempt it." Isis cut in before Nina could speak. "She's often either over dramatic, or just not good at it, because frankly, her feelings aren't in it and the feelings of the rest of the actors are probably annoying to her." Isis observed that from drama class. Why had she been taking drama class? She had found it easy to sneak away and take a nap without anyone really noticing she was gone.

"Anything else you'd like to divulge to the population in general?" Nina asked mock sweetly.

Isis tilted her head, thinking it over. "Nope, I'm done for now."

"At least she won't have to worry about Yusuke." Genkai said, shooting her student a look. "He tends to have a wall of crap between him and his emotions."

"Better than acting like a girl!" He retorted, gaining a few glares from the girls there.

"Enough! Yusuke finish eating, you have a train to catch,' she reminded him. "As for you,' Genkai looked up at Isis. "You have two boys that need training."

"Right, right. The reason I'm here." Isis gestured for Touya and Jin to follow her. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Touya and Jin shared a look before they stood, following Genkai and Isis outside.

"Wanna bet she makes them do something boring like meditate while she sleeps?" Kuwabara snickered.

"Meditating doesn't sound boring enough." Yusuke replied. "I think something more like counting the grass." He and Kuwabara laughed.

"Obviously you don't know who trained Isis." Nina commented, settling back to finish her breakfast.

"And you do?" Suzuka asked.

Nina nodded. "Of course I do, she always complained about him to me. I mean her father; he's the one that trained her. And from what I heard, he was not a very nice teacher."

Silence descended while those there thought about what that might mean. Koto was the first to get up and run out, hopeful that this would mean injuries galore. Curious, all but Keiko followed.

"Wait guys. We have a train to catch!" Keiko called after three of them.

* * *

**AN: Sorry I didn't post last weekend, I was behind on class work and had to work to catch up. I'll try finishing up the next chapter and posting it before next weekend if I can. Till later. Thanks for the Reviews. :D**

_Next Chapter Preview_

"_...you'd fall into a level IV category."_

"_This test is for Jin and Touya alone."_

"_What does a hat have to do with any of this?"_

'_Hold on, where did Jin go?' _


	52. Chapter 52: The Mage's Test

Chapter 51: The Mage's Test

'I think this is far enough.' Isis inspected her surroundings. It was a good distance from the temple that none of their attacks should cause any major damage.

The keyword being should.

Isis supposed she could put up a battle field, but that would mean calling attention to herself. She didn't need anyone from the factions getting curious about what was happening here.

"Okay." Isis focused on the two Shinobi, for the moment dismissing that Genkai had followed them. She probably wanted to make sure Isis didn't try to skip this, as if she would.

"I've never seen the two of you fight, but from what Windros has gathered, if you were Magus, you'd fall into a level IV category."

"Hold it now!" Jin objected. "We can't be that low!" He was called a Wind Master for a reason!

"I agree with Jin,' Touya had to take a second to gather himself after that announcement. "We both went through rigorous training to obtain our abilities and our tittles. Now you're telling us that we're almost beginners?"

Isis pointed at Jin. "Lost to a low level hell demon,' she then pointed at Touya. "Was trapped by an illusion that Mjrn could have dispelled at the age of three."

Touya found himself torn between objecting loudly, much like Jin was doing, or...he wasn't sure what else.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Genkai asked, not bothering to hide her smirk.

"I'm going to give them a chance to prove that they really are at a higher level." A wave of heat passed over them, melting the snow as far as they could see and hardening the ground.

As soon as the heat dissipated, the wind stirred around her, an icy edge to it that signaled the presence of both Windros and Ceres.

From her pocket she took out a white swan's feather and tucked it behind her right ear. "I'm going to give you two, two hours to take this feather from me." The icy wind whipped around her, forcing the trio to step back, raising their arms to shield themselves.

"I have five seals, my elementals have five more. All together they make ten seals. When I release both at once, our power increases four times more than what Yusuke and the others faced in our battle." Cause she hadn't actually been trying all that hard back then. "But this is different, so don't expect me to go easy on you!"

Even with the wind blowing as hard as it was, they could hear her every word. "Every thirty minutes I'm going to release a double seal. After the third seal, if you're still on your feet, you will have thirty minutes left. Trust me when I tell you that the moment I release the fourth seal, you're done for."

Touya smirked. "It won't take us more than ten minutes, right Jin?"

"Right!" The Wind Master replied, trying to gain control of the wind whipping around him. It was proving to be more difficult than he liked.

"We'll see about that." With the slightest motion of her hand, Isis commanded Ceres's power; between her and them, snowflakes thicker and taller than they were appeared, glinting dangerously in the light. They slowly began to rotate in a circle, moving in a pattern that looked almost like a dance.

"Let's go Jin!" Touya rushed forward, but he was only a few feet away when he felt the danger. He leaped back, avoiding the spikes of wind that cut into the earth before him, then had to start dodging to avoid the icy snowflakes that emerged from the larger ones. One came close to his cheek, seconds later Touya could feel the warm blood dripping down.

'Okay, so it might take a little longer than ten minutes.'

He caught sight of Jin trying to get through from above, only to meet a wall of air that blasted him away, his body rolling past him before he came to a stop.

'A lot longer than ten minutes.'

* * *

"I didn't know Isis had it in her." Yusuke said.

"I don't see what you're so impressed about." Hiei appeared next to them. "This means she wasn't serious when we fought!" It meant she had underestimated him from the very beginning!

"And you still had trouble beating her." Fay commented.

"Which makes you look like losers from my perspective," Nina added mildly.

Hiei shot her a glare before returning his attention to the battle. "I think it's time I showed her what happens when someone underestimates me."

Yusuke grinned. "Count me in." Before he could even take a step forward, Keiko grabbed him from behind.

"No you don't! We have a train to catch."

"But Keiko! This is a lot more important than sitting behind a dumb desk and ignoring the teacher!" Yusuke shouted, even as Keiko dragged him away.

"Then start paying attention Yusuke, you might learn something." Keiko looked back at Kuwabara and Fay. "Come on guys, we don't want to miss the train."

"Uhh...well I think I might be getting a-" Kuwabara trailed off when Shizuru shot him a warning look. "I mean, yeah, let's go. Don't want to miss the train." He grabbed Fay's arm and hurried after Keiko and Yusuke.

'Poor Fay.' Nina thought, hiding a smile. 'Stuck in school when by all rights she should be in summer vacation.' She waved goodbye cheerfully.

"See yah later, mate!" Chu called after Yusuke, a grin on his face.

"Don't worry; we'll have twice as much fun in your place!" Rinku called after him.

"That's not fair!" They heard Yusuke shout before he was dragged out of sight.

"Well then, I think we should join the fight." Suzuka said. It looked like fun.

Shishi's lips curled into a smug smile. "I'm in."

They were about to take off when Genkai landed in front of them. "Don't even think about it boys."

"Aww, why not?" Rinku whined.

"This test is for Jin and Touya alone. To prove not only to themselves, but to Isis that they are stronger than what she's branded them as,' Genkai explained. "If you interfere, they will never truly know if it was their own strength that carried them, or your help."

"True." Chu admitted reluctantly. "It's a downright shame. That looks like a bonzer brawl they got themselves in."

"You'll just have to wait for the next round boys. Today, take the day off. And before you start complaining,' she added when Rinku opened his mouth. "Think. Last night we had a visit from someone from the factions. The fact that he said that they weren't coming after Fay means squat to us. Especially when we all know that there may well be more than one way to accomplish what they want. Who knows; their bowing out of this war may have been the first step in their plan. And if that's so,' she looked at each of the fighters individually. "All of you will have to be in top fighting condition. Do you understand!"

A chorus of 'Yes!' answered her, though most sounded like disgruntled grumbles.

"As for you two." Genkai looked to Koto and Juri whose complexions whitened instantly. "You two are another story. We'll continue your training now."

"Noo!" Juri wailed. "My fragile body can't take any more pain!"

"Uhh…I prefer being the announcer." Koto said tentatively. "Besides, I think I've got the whole running fast business down."

Genkai's lips curled into a half smile. "We'll just see about that."

The two girls reluctantly followed Genkai, looking as if they were going to their execution.

Nina kind of felt sorry for them; at least until the blast coming from the battle outside grabbed her attention.

Jin landed a few feet from them, his teeth gritted as he stood on wobbly feet. "She's a tough lass." He admitted, wiping blood from his lip.

"She has weaknesses you know." Jin looked over his shoulder at Nina.

"Aye, I'm certain she does, but I'm after finding them right now."

Nina smiled. This guy's accent was really fun to listen too. "Want some pointers?"

Jin shook his head. "Thanks, but I'll be finding 'em myself." He blasted off, headed straight for Isis, who had created a pillar of ice, and now stood there, hands making quick gestures.

"Hn!"

Nina glanced over at Hiei.

"Next time she will pay." Red eyes turned to her. "And so will you, don't think I've forgotten what you did yesterday." He left then, moving so quickly she had trouble keeping him in sight.

"Don't mind him." Botan said. "That's just his way of welcoming you to the group."

Nina sweat dropped.

"Yes, Hiei is actually a very kind person." Yukina assured her with a smile.

"Are you sure you're talking about Hiei?" Kuronue asked, heading back into the temple.

"Of course we are." Botan said cheerfully. "Now, about Christmas preparations…"

* * *

"Are you still sulking, Yusuke?" Keiko moved to get a better look at Yusuke's face, but he simply turned his head away.

"Who said I'm sulking! I'm perfectly fine!" He stomped on ahead as they entered the school gate, muttering under his breath.

"Hey, Urameshi, wait for me!" Kuwabara ran past them to catch up to Yusuke.

Keiko silently sighted. 'He's obviously still sulking.'

"I'm sure he'll get over it eventually." Fay quipped lightly.

"I know,' Keiko answered. "I just wish he'd take school more seriously, you know. How is he going to get anywhere in the future if he can't even remember his multiplication tables."

"By studying like hell on his senior year." Fay responded lightly.

Keiko sweat dropped. "Don't tell me that's your plan too?"

Fay gave her a chagrined smile. "It was, and I even told my mom about it, but she threatened to lock me in my room and take away all my skating stuff until I graduated. So we came to an agreement; I keep my grades above a C, and she'll be happy."

Keiko smiled. "It sounds more like you had to agree to all her terms."

"Pretty much." Fay replied wryly.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about you. Who knows; maybe you can get Yusuke to take school a little more seriously."

'Not likely.' Fay thought.

"Come on, we better get to class before the bell rings." Keiko sped up and Fay followed after her.

* * *

"And that's what Christmas is all about." Botan finished explaining to the demons.

'I see.' To him, it sounded like simply another human festivity; however he did like one part about it. Kuronue secretly smiled. 'If I catch Fay under this mistletoe, I can kiss her.' For that, he'd go along with it.

"We can go shopping tomorrow." Nina said. "And get everything at the mall, but we do still have a problem about there being so many people." Since she'd just met them, she wouldn't really know what to get all of them, not to mention it meant lots and lots of shopping…actually she didn't mind that as much as the crowds.

"Oh don't worry about that, I've come up with the perfect solution." Botan brought out one of Genkai's hats, papers in it, and proudly presented it to those in the room. "Tada!"

"What does a hat have to do with any of this?" Shishi asked.

"This is how we're going to decide on who will buy a present for someone else."

"Oh, you mean Secret Santa." Nina said.

Botan nodded her head. "Bingo! We'll all take a paper from the hat, the paper has a name written on it, and that's who you'll be buying a present for. We'll keep going until there aren't any more names in the hat, but you can't choose your own. And no trading."

"I guess I get it." Rinku said. "So should I choose a paper now?"

Botan shook her head. "Nope, we wait for everyone else to get here. That'll be a while, but until then, you boys can come with us to choose a tree, after all, girls like us couldn't possibly drag the tree back on our own."

'Actually…I could.' All Nina had to really do is let Gunnarr take over and it would be simple enough to carry the tree on her own.

There was a boom from above them, then the sound of someone hitting the roof and rolling.

'That's just not fair.' Rinku silently grumbled. 'They get special training and we're stuck going to look at trees.'

The closed windows rattled, and suddenly Touya was hurled through the door, hitting the wall on the opposite side of the room heavily. He slid to the ground, his eyes closed in pain.

Nina winced, rubbing her head to make the feeling go away. "You okay?" she asked, kneeling next to him.

"Fine." Touya's words came out forced. He opened his eyes and tried to struggle to his feet. "But I never realized how difficult getting a feather from one girl could be."

He lost the fight to get to his feet and slumped against the wall, mustering his strength.

He'd tried everything he had in his arsenal, past strategies, his old and new techniques, and Isis still had the upper hand. 'I can't believe that there's no way to get past her defenses. We just need to find it.'

Chu loomed up above them, offering Touya a hand up. With a pained smile, Touya took it and stood.

"Need a hand, mate?" Chu asked him.

Touya shook his head. "No, this is our test; we'll find a way to get through to her." He left.

"Poor boys, I never really thought Isis would be so tough." Botan said.

"Only when she's serious," Nina told her. "If she weren't, they would have already won." It was too bad they wouldn't let her give them a hint. Then again, Touya looked like the type that was constantly trying to figure things out, maybe he would get it soon. Still…

"Okay then!" Botan said cheerfully. "We should get going; maybe when we come back they'll already have passed their test."

"Yeah…I'll catch up to you guys." Nina ran out the broken door.

"What do you think she's up too now?" Botan asked, watching her leave.

"Hopefully, something that might help them." Shizuru said.

Nina put on her shoes and stepped onto the grass. She didn't go far; only close enough so that she had a clearer view.

'_Iliana.' _

'_Yes?'_

'_I need you to do something for me.' _

"What exactly are you planning?"

Not only did Nina recognize the voice, she recognized the aura as it approached. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Hello, Hiei."

"You already heard what Genkai said, do you honestly believe that they'll appreciate your unwanted help?" he scoffed.

"I'm not going to do anything big." She opened up her hand as a paper fan appeared in it. "Now watch,' her words took on a Spanish accent. "This is what subtly is." Nina snapped it open and made a sweeping gesture.

The fan disappeared from her grasp and she turned back. "There, now it's up to them." The Spanish accent had faded from her words.

"You think they'll catch sight of that?" He had because of his Jagan eye, he wasn't sure Touya and Jin were up to the task.

"Think positively, they're your friends after all. So let's believe that they will." She said cheerfully.

"Ha!" Hiei turned away. "I don't have friends, only allies that are easily disposable if they stop being useful."

He left then, leaving her looking at the spot he'd been in. 'I wonder why he does that.'

'_La! He is most interesting is he not, like a constant flame with a touch of such darkness.'_ Iliana's voice echoed inside her head. Nina could hear the interest in her ghost actress's voice, and she did not like it.

'_Don't even think about it.'_ She thought firmly. _'May I remind you that 'such darkness' is the reason you are now a ghost.'_

'_I still want to finish that interrupted fight of ours.'_ Hayden added.

'_You won that fight, so no more fighting!'_

'_That is what we call a tie.' _Hayden responded.

'_It was not!' _she shot back, fuming.

'_He does look like he'd make an interesting opponent.'_ Gunnarr broke into the conversation, his voice thoughtful.

'_La! Men! Only with such thoughts of fighting, wasting such a pretty flame on such trivial matters! I will-'_

'_You will nothing!' _Nina shouted in her mind._ 'No one is fighting him and no one 'will' anything! May I remind you that you need my body to do it! And I refuse to cooperate!' _

"Nina, are you alright?"

Nina blinked, looking down at Yukina. "I'm sorry, I was…uhh...thinking. So are we leaving now?"

"That must've been some heavy thinking you were doing." Shizuru said. "We've been trying to snap you out of it for the last two minutes."

"We were beginning to worry." Yukina added.

Nina scratched the back of her head, a chagrinned smile on her face. "Sorry. I was having a conversation with my ghosts; I'm told I tend to zone out when that happens."

"Oh, well it's good to know you're okay." Yukina said. "We should go now; Botan and the others are waiting for us."

Nina nodded. "Right." She started after the two girls, only glancing back momentarily at the battle. 'Good luck you two.'

* * *

"How are you feeling, Jin?" Touya asked, clutching at his left hand. Almost all feeling had left it after Isis's last attack; he could barely move it now.

"Fine." Jin answered, staggering to his feet. "But she is a tough lass, I can't get past her defenses." And he'd been trying for over an hour. "I'll not be giving up soon though."

"That's good, but we won't get anywhere without a plan." Touya said.

Jin glanced at him. "Have any in that head of yours then?"

Touya shook his head reluctantly. "Not yet." That's when he caught sight of it, gently fluttering through the chaotic wind. Touya smiled once he understood. "I just had an idea."

Jin, who'd been trying to call on wind that had stopped heeding him ten minutes ago, turned his attention to Touya. "Go on then, I'm listening."

'Even I'm starting to feel sorry for them.' Isis thought, watching them from atop her icy pillar. With a sweep of her hand she created a chair out of ice and sat on it. 'I'm starting to get hungry too, and I still have about an hour of this to go.' Although they hadn't breached her defenses, it wasn't for lack of trying, and she'd been hard pressed to keep them out a couple of times. Not to mention that they kept trying to wrestle control of the elements from her, it was a good thing she had a deeper level of understanding to it.

'Enough is enough, time to end this.' Wind and ice began to swirl within her right hand as her gaze settled on the two… 'Hold on, where did Jin go?'

"Tornado Fist, Event Horizon!"

"What?" Isis jerked her head upwards, where Jin was coming down fast, his attack preceding him. She jumped back, barely avoiding the attack that swallowed up the entire pillar as if it had never been there, and brought up a shield of wind to stop him.

Paper thin cuts appeared on her cheeks, startling her. 'This attack, he modified it-but how did he know?'

"Ice Blades!"

Isis had to make a quick turn in midair, realize her shield wasn't going to cut it, and let herself drop to avoid Touya's attack, only her hair had an impromptu hair cut.

"Hey, watch the hair!"

Jin quickly followed her down, reaching for the feather behind her ear. He came close enough to brush her cheek, then found himself blasted back by the wind.

"Shards of Winter!"

'Dammit!' This time, Isis couldn't move out of the way fast enough, she also knew her shield wouldn't cut it; nevertheless she brought an ice shield up and crossed her arms over her face. The ice form of the attack broke apart when it hit her shield, but the rest of it continued forward, slashing through her sweater to skin.

"I see you figured it out, too bad it was so late in the fight!" Isis blasted Touya back before he could close in on her, sending him hurling high into the air even as Jin fell, his descend aided by the wind.

"Tornado Fist!"

Isis blocked the elemental part of the attack and dodged the other half. It left her open to attack and Jin moved in past her guard, reaching again for the feather.

Windros appeared between them, grabbed Jin by the neck and threw him from her.

"Windros!" Isis snapped. "You are not to appear in this form, I thought I already told you that!" she scolded.

Windros scoffed, but disappeared into the wind.

She brought her hand forward, commanding the wind to stop Jin from hitting the ground.

"Sorry about her, she's just exited."

"Don't ye hold back on my account." Jin had to wrestle with the wind to regain control of it, then blast upwards again. "Cause I won't be doing it!" The wind stirred up around his fist again, creating his attack.

'Looks like this is the last of it.' She could tell by the way Jin wobbled that he was on his last leg. 'Touya should be coming down now.'

"Tornado Fist, Event Horizon!"

Ready for the attack, Isis dodged, letting it fly past her towards the falling figure.

Jin's eyes widened as he realized what would happen. "Touya!" Even as he sped up, he knew he wouldn't get there in time. In the end, he didn't have too.

Isis, brought a hand up, made a gesture and Touya was sent flying to the left, away from the attack that exploded in a burst of dark orange light above them.

'That was too close.' Touya thought as he fell through the air. 'One more try.' It was all he had in him.

"Jin, now!" he shouted.

"Right, then!" Jin brought his hands up, using the last of his power to manipulate the wind.

Isis braced herself, but the wind never hit her, in fact she didn't see anything that meant he'd succeeded in using his powers. 'Guess he's out of juice.'

Arms wrapped around her neck from behind as Touya collided with her. "Caught you."

'Well, that was stupid of me.' Apparently, Jin hadn't been aiming for her, but using the last of his energy to help Touya get near her.

The wind blew him away from her as he reached for the feather. It proved just out of his reach, and with that his energy left him, his eyes closing as he fell.

Isis gestured, using the wind to slow their descend to earth. 'Well, they sure gave me a run for my money.' She landed on the ground as Genkai joined her.

"Well?"

"They know their teamwork." Isis admitted. "And I underestimated them."

The two turned to Jin as he stirred, forcing his arms to pull him up. "I'll not be giving up yet." He wobbled on his knee and collapsed once more, his right hand stretched out in a fist.

Genkai smiled. "It looks to me like they passed your test." Their gazes settled on Jin's fist. Clutched inside it was the feather Touya had managed to take from her, but then lost his grip on when she blasted him away.

"Yeah, I'll admit that they did. Still…"

'How did they figure it out so quickly?' A light blue feather fluttered past her and Isis caught it, causing the energy feather to disintegrate into thin air. There was only one person who knew that pure spirit energy could break through her defenses. Her eye twitched, her fist tightening. 'Nina, you lousy traitor.' Next time she saw her, Isis was going to give her the emotional shock of her life.

"Windros, Ceres, pick them up." The Elementals solidified, picking up the two shinobi. "Now that this is over, I'm hungry so let's eat."

* * *

Fay let out a sigh as the lunch bell rang. 'Just a few more hours and we can go home.'

"Are you okay, Fay?"

Fay looked up as one of the girls in her class came up to her, worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Look at her, acting so brave." A few other girls joined the first, looking down at her with tear filled eyes.

'Am I the only one who doesn't know what they're talking about?' Fay glanced around at the other students, but they quickly looked away. "Seriously, I don't know what you're talking about."

One of the girls placed her hands on her shoulders. "That's right, there's nothing wrong because it won't happen again." She sounded encouraging.

"I don't know if I would have been able to return to class just two days after waking from such a long coma."

Fay sweat dropped. "Come again?"

"You don't have to hide it you know,' another girl said gently.

"I think everyone already knows that you were in an accident after your first day here and fell into a coma until two days ago." Another said gently.

"That's right, and I heard that the doctors said it could happen again." Yet another commented. The rest of the girls nodded, oblivious to Fay's growing ire.

"We just want you to know we're here to support your dedication to school." The girls nodded again.

Fay jumped out of her chair and ran out the door, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. "Yusuke!" she shouted, racing up the stairs.

She slammed the roof door open and stomped over to the sitting boy.

"What's up?" he asked through a mouthful.

"Like you don't know!" she shouted.

Yusuke shrugged. "Can't say I do." He popped the fried shrimp into his mouth, almost dropping the bento box when Fay grabbed him by the front of his jacket.

"Who came up with the stupid idea of telling everyone I was in a coma until two days ago?" she demanded, shaking him.

"Watch it! I almost spilled my lunch!" he shouted back. "And what's wrong with telling everyone the truth...or well, it's close enough to the truth!"

"You made me sound like some dumb weakling!" she complained loudly. "Now everyone's looking at me as if they're afraid I'll drop if they touch me!"

"Well it's true." He said trying to control his grin.

"It's not!" Fay started shaking him again.

"Will you stop doing that! If I spill my lunch because of you, I'll make you regret it!"

"Try me!" she was about to start shaking him harder when the sound of the roof door closing caught their attention.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Kuwabara asked, blinking at the scene in front of him.

"She's trying to make me spill my food." Yusuke glared at Fay. "Could you let me go now!"

"Not until I have answers,' Fay seemed to think it over. "And someone to beat up over it."

"Oh, right. I guess you heard about the whole coma thing." Kuwabara said.

Fay turned her glare on him. "So you knew about it? How come no one told me?"

"Don't look at me!" Kuwabara said defensively. "I just heard about it myself."

"Look,' Yusuke said. "It was probably pacifier breath that came up with the excuse. It might not be the best one, but it is convenient once you think about it."

'Pacifier breath?' Fay had to think a moment before she remembered who that was.

"So Koenma came up with it?" Fay stepped back, letting go of Yusuke who straightened and secured his lunch.

"But how exactly is that dumb excuse convenient?"

"Just think about it, stupid." He ignored her warning look. "It's not like we're going to let it happen again, but if you end up kidnapped or falling asleep again, like you usually do; we can just use this excuse for why you're absent."

"I guess I see what Urameshi's saying." Kuwabara muttered, thinking it over. "It is pretty convenient."

"Well it's not for me!" Fay shouted at him. Kuwabara jumped back in surprise as she stomped over to him. "I am not some dumb airhead that'll trip over her own feet every time she walks!" She included Yusuke in her glower, then turned and ran into the closed door.

The two boys burst into laughter.

"Yeah, and you back it up so well." Yusuke said through his laughter.

"That doesn't count!" Fay opened the door, stomped inside, and slammed the door closed behind her.

'Idiot boys!' Fay wondered if she could get away with punching Koenma the next time she saw him.


	53. Chapter 53: Unexpected Kidnapping

Chapter 52: Unexpected Kidnapping

Fay stretched her arms over her head, feeling glad that the school day was finally over. 'Now I won't have to deal with this until after the New Year.' Hopefully by then they'd have forgotten about it. Everyone had treated her like some fragile vase. Even the principal had stopped by to check on how she was doing. She'd had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from telling him to shove it where it hurts.

"I see you managed to escape your new fan club." Yusuke said as he caught up with her.

"No thanks to you." She grumbled.

"Don't look at me; I'm not the one who came up with that stupid excuse."

'Stupid is right.' Fay thought.

"I'll see you guys next year, bye." Kuwabara waved goodbye to his friends and hurried to catch up to them.

"Hey, where's Keiko?" he asked, noticing she was missing.

"She said she had to attend some last minute council meeting." Fay explained.

"Shouldn't we wait for her then?" Kuwabara asked.

"What for? Who knows how long that dumb meeting's going to go." Yusuke said.

"But what about the factions?"

"Unless they have a death wish, I doubt any of them will go after anyone but Fay anymore." Yusuke answered.

Even as he said this, Fay noticed him looking over his shoulder at the school building.

"We could wait for her, you know." She offered.

"She's the one who told us not to wait, so drop it already!" Yusuke stomped away.

"Maybe they had a fight?" Fay thought out loud. She wasn't sure when that could have happened though; she'd been there when Keiko had told them about the meeting.

"I don't think that's it,' Kuwabara said. "If I know Yusuke, he's probably worried and trying to pretend he isn't."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

The two joined him at the gate, Fay looking around for Kurama. "He's not here yet."

"He's probably still at his school working on some last minute experiment." Yusuke muttered.

"In that case let's go meet him there,' Fay looked one way then another. "Which way is his school?"

'Might as well.' Yusuke thought. Kurama's school was closer to the train station anyway. He gestured. "Down that way, oh and before I forget,'

Fay looked back at him. "Yeah?'

"When we're around normal people, remember to call him Shuichi."

"Shuichi?" Fay asked.

"That's uh…his human name." On second thought... that might not have been the best way to phrase it.

"Oh, you mean he uses Kurama to hide his real name from the demons?" Fay asked.

"Uhh…yeah,' that would work. "Something like that."

Fay headed down the street. "Sounds like a good idea, too bad I couldn't do that in the beginning."

"Hey, Urameshi." Kuwabara leaned closer to Yusuke, whispering. "I can walk Fay to Kurama's school if you want, and you can stay to wait for Keiko."

"Nah, I told you she'll be fine." Yusuke placed his hands behind his head. "The one we have to worry about is Fay. If she gets kidnapped on my watch again, I'm going to start looking like a sissy."

"If you say so." Kuwabara replied, sounding uncertain.

"Yeah, I say so. Come on, if she goes any faster we'll end up losing her again."

* * *

"Shuichi!" Kurama came to a halt, looking back at the three girls in uniform who came towards him.

"Hello, is there something I may I help you?" he asked politely.

"We were just wondering,' a black hair one and the apparent leader of the group spoke. "If you'd like to come with us to a Christmas party this Saturday."

He smiled gently. "I am afraid I must decline. I already have plans for the holidays."

The girls let out a disappointed sighs. "Well, I could give you my number, and if your plans change you could always-"

"Shuichi!"

The girl's words were interrupted by a voice Kurama would know anywhere. Before he could turn to greet her, Fay wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling as she peeked at him on his left side.

"You were taking too long so we decided to come pick you up." She informed him with a smile.

Kurama felt a little startled, not that they had decided to meet him here, but that she had hugged him of her own accord. True, Fay had done so before, but only rather spontaneously, even surprising herself at times. He quickly hid his surprise, smiling warmly down at her.

"I apologize; one of my lectures ran longer than usual."

"That's okay."

It was only when a brown hair girl spoke that Fay deigned to notice the group of girls.

"Shuichi…is she a friend of yours?" the girl's voice sounded uncertain and hopeful.

His placid smile returned. "Yes, Fay is also-"

"I'm his girlfriend." Fay announced, her grip on his waist tightening the slightest, her words surprising him once more.

The group of girls looked to him for confirmation.

He nodded. "Yes." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, wondering exactly why she was acting this way. She couldn't possibly be jealous…could she?

"Oh,' a third girl said, her pleasant words sounding choked and forced. "Since when?"

"We met on my trip to the states." He informed them.

"So were you moving to Japan before you met Shuichi?" a new girl asked.

Kurama finally noticed that they were attraction more attention than he liked, mostly from the female student body.

"Uh…I guess you could say that." Fay answered. It was as close to the truth as it came, even if it wasn't precisely it.

"That sounds very romantic." The girl's words still sounded forced.

"You guys done over there!"

The couple, and the rest of the girls, glanced over to the two tall boys waiting by the gate.

"Isn't that uniform from Sarayashi jr. high?" One of the girls asked.

The rest turned to study Fay. "You're wearing their uniform too." It almost sounded like an accusation.

"Yeah, I transferred there." She'd never been amidst a group of angry bears, but she was pretty sure this is how it felt. Well they could just keep growling! She was not giving up Kurama!

"I heard that its run by a gang lead by a really scary guy named Yusuke Urameshi."

Fay couldn't help the snort of laughter. "Please, Yusuke's only scary when...well; actually, he's never been scary to me." She pointed. "And that's him over there, the black hair one."

The girls seemed to step back in horror, then look as one at Kurama. "He's…he's…your friend, Shuichi?" when he nodded, the girls looked taken aback, though they tried to hide it.

"I…I guess he…he…ca…can't be as bad as the rumors say." One of them stuttered out.

"Rumors are often over exaggerated and incorrect." Kurama sounded just the slightest chiding.

"I…I guess so." Another girl said.

"Are we going to have to wait any longer?" Yusuke called out to them. "We're going to miss the train."

"If you will excuse me ladies." Kurama took a hold of Fay's hand and led her through the throng of girls to the two waiting youths.

Fay looked over her shoulder, smiling at the group of glaring girls and waved.

She was probably digging her own grave, but it wasn't as if she was going to be seeing these girls anytime soon, and even if she did, as if they could take her.

"About time,' Yusuke complained. "I thought you were starting a convention back there."

"Sorry." Kurama's apology came out distracted, most of his attention on Fay.

"You were jealous?" he asked.

Fay couldn't help the blush, even though she really tried. "Well, what else was I supposed to feel when there's a bunch of, obviously infatuated girls, surrounding you?"

Until now, Fay hadn't had any reason to believe she'd have competition for Kurama's affection. Stupid, but there it was.

After all, the girls she hung out with only saw Kurama as a friend, so there'd never been any reason for Fay to feel jealous. But seeing those girls… Fay realized that she wasn't the only girl who wanted Kurama to look only at them.

It made her feel jealous, uncertain, and a little scared. A lot of those girls were really pretty, much prettier than her, not to mention probably had a lot more in common with Kurama than she did. And were probably more refined as well.

She had the strongest urge to hug Kurama tightly and convince him that she was the one who loved him the most in all of the universes (how corny was that!) so he should only ever look at her.

In the end, it was Kurama who hugged her, reassuring her. "There is no reason for your jealousy; the only girl I will ever love is you." The fact that he was not the only one who suffered jealousy calmed him.

Yusuke's eye twitched. 'Do they have to get into this conversation right now?' Some of those girls were still following them, trying to be covert about it. A blind and death guy could tell they were there.

"Me too,' he heard Fay say, making him wish they'd waited for Kurama at their school. "I'll only ever love you."

Were those wails and sniffles he heard behind them? 'At least Jin and Kuronue aren't here.' They'd probably do something worse than those girls.

"Hey Urameshi,' Kuwabara whispered. "Do you think they know we're being followed by those girls?"

Before he could answer, Kurama spoke. "Let's go, the train will arrive soon."

'Bout time.' Yusuke thought.

* * *

'I guess that's it until after New Year's.' Keiko put the last of the notes into her bag. She closed her bag, pausing momentarily to look out the window. 'It looks like rain, I better hurry up.' She picked up her bag and headed out when she heard the sound of something dropping. Looking back, Keiko noticed the bracelet on the ground.

'How did this get here?' Keiko picked up the bracelet she knew belonged to Fay.

'Fay will be really worried if she can't find this. I better hurry up and return it to her.' She stood and headed out, waving goodbye to some of the council members and the last remaining teachers she encountered in the corridors.

Her cell phone rang as she approached the train station. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, Yusuke. Yeah I'm fine; the meeting just went on a little longer than expected."

A pause. "I'm at the train station already, with enough time to catch the train back. I should be there in half an hour, so I'll see you then." She stepped aside as a tall man in a dark brown coat walked past her.

"Yeah, that would be nice." She noticed a black box fall away from the man.

"I won't, promise. I'll be there soon, gotta go."

After Yusuke said goodbye, Keiko hurried to pick up the box and run after the man. "Excuse me?"

He paused. "Yes?"

Keiko held out the box. "You dropped this back there."

He finally turned to look at her, making Keiko involuntarily catch her breath.

"And has been delivered into your hands, where it belongs." Azrael stepped closer to Keiko, brushing her cheek. "I have finally found you, Kathleen."

"No!" Keiko shoved him away from her, dropping the box she now understood contained the jewelry.

"I'm not her!" She whirled around and ran but he quickly caught up, wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her up.

"Let go!" she demanded, trying to slap him, but her position made it impossible.

"You will remember me soon enough Kathleen,' he whispered gently. "Then everything will be as it should have."

"No! Let go! Yusuke!" Keiko shouted, struggling against him.

'Why isn't anyone helping?' She could see people passing by, but it was as if they couldn't see the two.

"Help!" Keiko shouted.

There was a swoosh from behind her as enormous white wings spread out from Azrael's back.

"Yusuke!" Keiko screamed once more.

It wasn't Yusuke who responded, but a blur of black that struck out with his katana at Azrael.

The angel dodged back, not letting his grip on Keiko slip.

"This is none of your business, demon." Azrael warned Hiei. "Now leave."

Hiei scoffed. "It may not be my job to keep her safe, but if I don't, I'll have to hear the detective's loud complaints in my ears."

'Hiei.' Keiko didn't know why he was here, but she was very glad to see him.

"I'll give you only one warning,' Hiei pointed his katana at the angel. "Let her go and leave now, or I won't hesitate to kill you."

Feathers began to drift around them. Remembering the last time this had happened, Hiei charged.

"I will leave, but I won't leave Kathleen behind."

"I'm not Kathleen!" Keiko shouted. "Yusuke!"

The feathers drifting around them attacked Hiei, slowing him down so that he was unable to get to the two before they disappeared.

'Damn!' The feathers disappeared the moment Azrael did.

Hiei picked up the bag Keiko had dropped. 'They were never after Fay, they were after Keiko.'

* * *

"Look at this place." Fay stopped at the top of the stairs leading to the temple, looking at the Christmas decorations that had been set up.

Colored lights ran across the edges of the roof, changing color and adding a cheery glow to the fallen snow.

"Guess they decided to decorate while we were at school." Yusuke mumbled. At least he hadn't had to help with this, and he already knew who'd probably bullied the rest of the guys into it.

"Come on, I want to see if they've set up the tree." Fay ran inside, the three boys following a little more slowly.

"We're back!" she called as they entered the living room.

The girls and Rinku were finishing up decorating the tall Christmas tree. Rinku was using Chu's shoulders as a step ladder to set the star at the top of the tree while Puu circled around them.

"Yukina, my love. I'm back!" Kuwabara exclaimed running over to her. "Did you miss me?"

"Yes, and welcome back Kazuma. How was your day?" Yukina asked sweetly.

While Kuwabara tried to amaze Yukina with what he did in school, Botan greeted the rest of them. "Welcome back. I hope you don't mind that we started decorating without you guys, but I thought it'd be a nice activity for us to do." Mostly so the boys, who couldn't train that day, didn't go stir crazy.

"Hold on…where's Keiko?" she asked, noticing the girl was missing.

"She stayed back at some stupid council meeting, but she should get here soon. Good job on the tree." Yusuke left the living room, reaching for the cell phone in his pocket.

"I'm done with the star." Rinku jumped off Chu's shoulders and looked up at his handy work. "You were right, Botan. This was fun."

Botan grinned. "I told you it would."

'At least it was fun for them' Shishi silently muttered, stacking the last of the empty boxes. He'd been stuck putting up the decorations outside and had almost slipped off the roof a couple times. Not that he couldn't have caught himself easily, but it still felt like grunt work.

"So did Jin and Touya pass their test?" Kuwabara asked, finally done listing his school activities to Yukina.

"Of course they did." Nina answered. "It did take them a while but they managed it. Isn't that right, Isis?" The Shaman looked over at the Magus; the only one of the girl's who wasn't helping with the last of the decorations. Instead she was sipping hot chocolate at a table.

"They did fine." She answered, shooting Nina a glare.

Isis stood, setting her empty cup down. "Well, since this is over, I'm leaving. I'm getting all weirded out with this whole 'Christmas in July' scene."

"We'll expect you tomorrow at the same time." Genkai reminded her.

Isis had to struggle to keep a whine from escaping her throat. "Okay, okay, jeez you don't let anything go." She lazily waved a goodbye at the others and headed for the door.

"Isis, could you please wait."

Isis glanced over her shoulder at Yukina. "Wait?"

Yukina nodded, heading out of the room. "I have something I want to give you."

"Sure you don't want to stay?" Botan asked the Magus. "As soon as Keiko gets here we'll be doing Secret Santa."

Isis stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. If I don't check in with dearest mother,' her tone on the word was sarcastic. "She'll come looking for me." And she wanted to go home and be lazy for a while, not proactive. The word sent shivers of dislike down her back.

"If you're sure…" Botan trailed off.

Isis nodded.

"Where's Hiei?" Fay asked looking around the room for him. "Didn't he help with the decorations?"

"He disappeared shortly after all of you left." Kuronue said, walking into the room. "We assumed he went to keep an eye on Fay."

Kurama reached for her, but Kuronue was faster, wrapping his hands around her waist and lifting her up. "It's good you're back, I missed you."

Fay smiled. "And I missed you too buddy,' she patted him on the head, something that made his eye twitch and Kurama hide a smile.

"Now, could you let me go, we should look for Hiei. We can't start the secret Santa without him either, you know."

Botan quietly sighted in relief. 'I guess I really don't have to worry about those too.' She doubted Fay would ever look at anyone but Kurama. She was still keeping an eye on them, just in case.

"I'm sure the bloke'll show up soon." Chu said, sitting down now that he'd done his part. "Now that everyone's here."

Yukina returned, a bundle of items in her hands. "Here." She presented them to Isis.

"It's for…helping us…so much." Yukina handed a pink box to Isis, then a larger black one, along with what looked like a lunchbox.

All but Fay, Kurama, and Kuwabara really knew what she was doing, though Kurama noticed the expressions on most of his friends' faces. 'I believe I may be missing some information here.'

"Please…' Yukina bowed. "Enjoy them."

Apparently, she had now turned into a delivery girl. Isis looked at the pink wrapped box; that seemed to be for her though.

"Yeah…I'll…I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot, and will be really, really thankful for it." Great, now she was sounding like a dork.

Yukina smiled up at her. "Thank you very much."

Isis nodded and took her leave.

* * *

Yusuke walked into the next room, dialed Keiko's phone number and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Keiko, you okay? And what's taking you so long to get back?" He asked.

He listened to her answer.

"You mean a lot longer, it's almost dark. Where are you right now?"

'Half an hour…' It was already dark; she'd probably get lost on her own.

"Do you want me to meet you at the stop here?"

He listened. "You're not going to take your time at some dumb shop and miss the train, right?" He wasn't looking forward to waiting who knows how long in the cold.

He nodded when she answered. "Okay then, I'll see you there." He hung up and rejoined the others.

"I'm going to go meet Keiko at the…" he trailed off as a cold feeling overtook him, kind of like someone throwing a bucket of cold water on him.

At the same time, Shizuru dropped a small angel she was about to hang on the tree, and Kuwabara froze.

"Something's wrong," Shizuru said. "I think Keiko might be in trouble."

Yusuke whirled around and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Yusuke!" Genkai called after him.

"Where do you think!" he shouted. "I'm going after Keiko!"

"Think! She's more than thirty minutes away; you'll never get there in time."

He stopped, realizing Genkai was right. "Then what the hell am I suppose to do! Just stand and wait!"

"No,' Genkai turned to the rest of the group who had followed them, her gaze landing on Nina.

"You're supposed to use that brain of yours; it's there for a reason. Nina, you can make portals, correct?"

Nina nodded. "Yeah, I can."

"Then do it right now!" Yusuke demanded, taking a step towards her.

Nina winced. "Please control your emotions, they really pack a punch. Everyone else, step back." They did as she asked, watching as she lifted her hand and called up a portal. It began as a stream of light that drifted from her hands, intertwined in midair and took on an archway look.

"What's going on?" Touya and Jin joined them, both still looking a little tired.

"Something's happened to Yusuke's sheila." Chu explained. "We're going after her."

"Not all of us will." Genkai said. "Half of us will stay here with Fay; it may be that this is a distraction. The rest of us-"

"There's no need for that." Hiei stepped through the portal, to everyone's surprise.

"Azrael took Keiko,' he informed them. "He thinks she's his long lost dead girlfriend reborn."

"That makes him stupid as well as dead!" Yusuke turned to Nina. "Make a portal to your world; if he thinks he's keeping Keiko, he's got another thing coming!"

Nina stepped slightly behind Fay. "Even if I were to do that, we don't know where Azrael is. Control your tempter!" she suddenly snapped. "And do as Genkai said! In this case, call the enforcer of the war."

Yusuke had to think a second to realize what she meant. "Mary Anne!"

The Guardian appeared next to him dressed in dark blue pajamas, a glass of orange juice in her hand.

Her emotions were so strong, Nina felt her stomach churn and she ducked further behind Fay, making the girl glance back at her in worry.

It had been like this ever since Nina could remember, a few weeks after becoming friends with Fay back when they were kids; Nina had realized that Fay acted like a sort of emotional shield for her. She now understood why, but back then, and even now, she was just glad Fay was with her.

"Unlike you guys, I'm not on vacation." Mary Anne informed them through gritted teeth. "And I am not a twenty four hour service line so this better be-"

"The Malaika kidnapped Keiko." Kurama informed her, shooting Yusuke a glance that clearly told him to control himself.

"And I care about this why?" Mary Anne demanded.

"Hey, you're the one that said that if they came after-"

"If they came after Fay again, now that they're out of the war,' she informed them impatiently, cutting off Kuwabara. "I would kill them. They did not come after Fay. This business is completely outside of the war. Therefore none of my business."

"That's why they dropped out, didn't they,' Shizuru suddenly realized. "So that you wouldn't come after them when they did this."

Mary Anne nodded with a shrug.

"You can't just let them get away with this!" Rinku exclaimed. "They might start thinking they can get away with other stuff too."

'No, I doubt they will.' Mary Anne thought with a roll of her eyes. This was not her business, period.

"Please help, I know you're not heartless." Botan pleaded. "Just think how scared Keiko is feeling right now."

Frankly…Mary Anne wasn't all that concerned with it, but she knew if she left, Yusuke, who looked ready to do her damage, would keep calling her back. She would either have to kill him...well there really wasn't another option. But it did kind of irk that the Malaika had managed to tie her hands up so well.

"Try not exploding Yusuke." Her drink disappeared from her hand, replaced by a very thick book. "I can't help you, but then I doubt you really need my help, I did notice you now have a Shaman with you." She glanced at said being. "So I'll give you what information I have on the Malaika and Keiko's whereabouts. Since I've met Keiko, and we have now had direct contact with the Malaika, I should have some info on them."

She looked at the content page, her fingers going down the list, then began flipping pages until she found it. "Here it is, Keiko Yukimura."

'Impressive.' What this gal was doing with Yusuke, Mary Anne glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she had no idea.

"Well?" Suzuka asked when seconds stretched into minutes and she didn't speak. "Where did they take Keiko?"

"Hmm…sorry to have to tell you this, but Keiko is the reincarnation of Kathleen."

"The hell she is!" Yusuke protested, which Mary Anne ignored.

"Azrael did not take her to my world, however, actually she's still in this one, but it's not a question of _where _she is more of _when _she is."

**AN: Till next chapter ^^**

_Next Chapter Preview. _

"_Sorry, but I can't do that."_

"_Why so hesitant to help?"_

"_Welcome home, Kathleen." _

"_Once your memories are restored…"_


	54. Chapter 54: Wind back the Clock

Chapter 53: Wind back the clock

"What…what did you just say?" Yusuke wasn't sure he'd heard right.

Mary Anne's gaze traveled up to him. "You heard me; she's a couple centuries back in this world's time, about six hundred and ninety."

'Now this is just stupid weird.'

"If he thinks that's going to keep me from kicking his ass, then he's got another thing coming." Yusuke leaned closer to the guardian. "Take me there, right now!"

Mary Anne raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, but I can't do that."

"Can't, or wont?" Kurama asked.

"In this case it's cant." She informed them reluctantly. "I don't think you guys yet get that as a Guardian, I have strict rules I have to follow. The strictest is that I cannot step outside my time frame."

"Why the hell not?" Yusuke demanded.

"Because I have powers that can only exist within one being, and through most of human history, there has been a Guardian. If I were to step into another time where there was someone with a guardianship...well, it would be like the world's atomic bombs going off at once, except worse. It would upset the balance of the dimensional scope, probably destroying everything."

With a look of fear, Kuwabara stepped away from Mary Anne. "So then, could you, you know, take a few dozen steps away in the opposite direction?"

Mary Anne ignored him, her attention on Yusuke. "So I can't."

"But there has to be a way.' Botan insisted. "We can't let him get away with kidnapping Keiko! She's our friend!"

"Would any of the Wizards have the ability to time travel?" Kurama asked.

"Probably, but frankly, I don't know where any of them are right now. And before you ask,' she shot Kurama a look. "No, this book can't tell me."

The wall near Yusuke suddenly developed a hole as he punched through it.

"If you tell me that there's no way to get to Keiko, I swear I'm going to personally dig your grave and throw you in it."

Mary Anne hid a smile. This was the first time she'd seen Yusuke actually look threatening. Who knew? He'd just risen a few notches in her estimation.

"No, I won't tell you there's no way, because there is. This is something of an open secret, but it should help you; every faction, included those who no longer participate in the war, has at least one member who can time travel."

All eyes immediately went to Nina, who hid behind Fay.

Yusuke would have demanded she take them to Keiko, but to his surprise, Fay beat him to it.

"Get us there now!" Fay whirled around, grabbing Nina by her shirt.

"Just because I'm a Shaman doesn't automatically mean I'm the one who can time travel!"

"But-she-knows-who-caaan." Mary Anne chirped in a sing song voice, her eyes on the pages of her book.

"Well?" Shizuru asked, taking a step closer to Nina.

Nina hesitated, her expression reluctant.

"Why so hesitant to help?" Touya asked suspiciously.

"It's…it's not that exactly. Fay stop glaring, coming from you it doesn't work. It's more that…well…" Nina took Fay's hands and dislodged them from her shirt, then set her own hands on her friend's shoulders. "You know her too; shall I hum her theme song?"

It took Fay a few seconds to realize what Nina meant by that. When she did, she stepped back, dismay filling her eyes. "No…"

Nina nodded. "She's a witch, if you want to know; more precisely, the High Priestess in training for her faction."

"Was anyone around me actually normal!" Fay demanded in a shout.

"Well yeah…" Nina trailed off trying to think, a name came to mind but then she remembered. "Well…only Nina, Dante, Isis, and I were in a faction." She answered cheerfully.

"Does anyone know what they're talking about?" Juri whispered.

"Not a clue." Koto answered, her ears twitching.

"Could you guys fill us in?" Rinku demanded.

"Oh…right." Looking resigned, Nina informed them. "Our friend…her name is Madeline, and she's uhh… in the Witch's faction."

"Okay, then let's go get her." Yusuke pointed at the still open portal. "Change it."

"The only problem with that,' Mary Anne snapped her book close. "Is that Madeline is, at the moment, in the Santa Cruz mountains, more specifically;she's right smack in the middle of blessed ground protected by a barrier that will turn any being who 'demon' can be applied too, into so much ash. A normal human can't go there either; they have to have some kind of ability, such as being psychic."

"Okay, then I'll go get her!" Yusuke snapped.

Mary Anne stared up at him through half open eyes, her expression unreadable. Finally, she shook her head. "No, you'd get fried too, don't ask me why."

Yusuke gritted his teeth.

"I'll go!" Fay volunteered. "I know Madeline, so she'll trust me, and I'm not a normal human."

"No." Kurama stated firmly. "I will not let you walk into a faction's home base. Even if they no longer participate in the war."

"I won't go alone, Nina can come with me."

"Yeah…' Nina sidled away from Fay. "Not possible."

"Why not?" Fay demanded, whirling to face her friend.

"Their territory is filled with spirits, both nature and human. I step in there and my fate will be worse than just turning into ashes." That would be merciful. For her, it would be more like a steel rod and lightning, lots and lots of lightning. She'd be lucky if any of her sanity stayed intact.

"Hey, is everyone forgetting about me?" Kuwabara pointed at himself proudly. "I'll go with Fay."

Kurama studied Kuwabara in silence before turning back to Fay. "Like I said; I will not let you walk into such a place unprotected."

"Hey!" Kuwabara glared at Kurama. "I just said I'd go with her!"

"Ha! And you're going to do what?" Hiei scoffed. "They're going into an all female territory, are you saying you're willing to break your code if they attack?"

"Even if you were,' Kurama said, trying to pacify Kuwabara. "You alone cannot take them all on."

"I'll go with her." Genkai stepped forward.

"If worse comes to worse, Kuwabara can get Fay out of there while I hold them off." She glanced at Kurama. "Will that satisfy you?"

'Why is she asking him?' Nina thought. Kurama may be, and she still couldn't believe it, Fay's boyfriend, but that didn't mean he could suddenly decide everything in Fay's life. Any moment now, Fay was so going to put him in his place.

Nina watched her friend, expecting the explosion at any second…any second now…

It never happened. Kurama agreed with Genkai's plan, and Fay smiled up at him in a way that made Nina want to slap her around and demand to know what the hell was wrong with her!

It was enough to give her a headache, or a migraine, counting all the emotions that the group was giving off.

The emotions coming from three beings in particular were beginning to chafe at her. Yusuke she could understand, but she could also feel both Jin's and Kuronue's jealousy. It was the same emotion, but the way it felt was so different. Kuronue's quiet, like a wind in the night, cold, silent and calculating.

Jin's was more like fire, strange since his element was wind, but at least it was tampered, but she got the feeling he was just…waiting.

Yeah, she could feel that migraine coming on. And now she would have to deal with Madeline… yup, there was that migraine.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow though." Mary Anne stated. Before Yusuke could begin shouting, she held up a staying hand. "No one outside of their faction is allowed within their borders after night fall. Their rules not mine." At least they hadn't asked her to go get the witch. The Witch Faction and her didn't have the best relation. It went more along the lines of; don't come near us, and we won't give you a reason to bust down our door.

"If we're done here, I'm going to bed. I suggest you guys do the same." Yawning, Mary Anne disappeared.

* * *

Keiko slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the blue silk canopy above her. 'Wait, I don't-' Memory rushed back and she quickly sat up.

'Where am I?' The room she was in was large; the floor made of wood, expensive looking carpets laid on it. There were paintings hanging on the walls and antique furniture arranged throughout the room.

'I have to get out of here!' She swung her legs over the bed, finally noticing that someone had changed her into a blue kimono decorated with white cherry blossoms.

That gave he pause, but after a second Keiko dismissed it, jumping off the tall bed just as the door opened.

"So, you are awake."

Keiko took a step back, looking at the girl warily. "Who are you? Where am I? Why did you bring me here?"

"My name is Hakel, as for the rest,' she bowed to Keiko. "Welcome home, Kathleen."

"I'm not Kathleen." Keiko insisted firmly. "You have the wrong person."

Hakel shook her head. "You have Kathleen's soul. I was once your sister; I would recognize you in any form."

"I don't have a sister, I'm an only child." Keiko insisted. "And just so you know, my friends will come for me."

Hakel's lips turned up in a smile that filled Keiko with apprehension. "It would be quite a feat, considering we are seven hundred and ninety years in the past."

Keiko's face blanched. How would Yusuke be able to get here?

'If they can do it, so can he. I have to believe that.'

"They'll still come for me."

Hakel shrugged. "Perhaps, but by the time they manage it, you will not wish to return."

'I seriously doubt that.' Keiko thought.

"Once your memories are restored, you will know who we are, and that you belong with us. Not them. Until then,' Hakel stepped to the side, keeping the door open. "Azrael would like you to join him for lunch. I am sure you must be hungry."

Her stomach took that moment to growl and Keiko fought down her blush.

Going outside meant she'd be able to see more of where she was, maybe even find a way to escape. 'I guess I better keep my strength up then.'

"Fine." She stepped past Hakel, looking around the long corridor.

"Oh, and just in case you were thinking of escaping,' Hakel overtook her, gesturing for Keiko to follow. "I will let you know that in this time period, the barrier between human and demon world has not yet been erected. Going outside may mean your death."

'Then I'll wait for Yusuke. I know he'll come for me.' Her left hand gripped her right wrist and she finally realized that she was still wearing Fay's bracelet.

'Maybe I can use it.' The others had told her that the bracelet had magical qualities. Hopefully it would work if she needed it.

Hakel led her to a large dining room with a long table in the center. At one end sat the man that had kidnapped her, Azrael. He stood as she entered, pulling out a chair for her to sit.

Keiko hesitated.

Hakel gave her a light push, giving Keiko no other choice but to walk over and sit down.

"I'm not her, you know." Keiko said.

"You may look different, but it is still you." Azrael stretched his arm, his hand brushing her cheek. Keiko jerked away from his touch.

"You may not remember yet, but we will soon mend that." He gestured to the served food. "Please, eat. You have been sleeping for some time now."

Hoping the food didn't have anything that would make her fall asleep again, Keiko picked up a spoon.

* * *

If someone were to ask Madeline's friends to describe her, they would glance at each other in uncertainty and tell you how she looks, nothing of her personality.

If pressed, they would reluctantly tell you that the nicest thing they could say about her was that she was vane, and then quickly tell you she had reason to be so.

Madeline had an hour glass figure, long shapely legs and alabaster skin. Her wavy blond hair fell to her waist and she had a heart shaped face that held striking violet eyes.

She was beautiful, and she knew it, used it, and pretty much made it the reason she could do and have whatever she wanted.

So, why didn't she hang out with her own kind..? Rumor in school was that she'd had a fight with them, and until they apologized to her she'd rather hang out with her childhood friends; those being Nina, Fay, and a reluctant Isis.

She also loved to flirt, mostly to get whatever she could from the guy before she dumped him.

It was why Nina had been so reluctant to give out her name; it was why Fay had looked so dismayed.

Fay had decided that if Madeline so much as tried one of her moves on Kurama, she'd have to kill her, friend or not.

Thus it was a complete surprise to her when, after stepping out of the portal, Madeline's eyes grew large and she'd pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the group and screeched a word as if it were a curse.

"Demons!"

She whirled angrily to Fay, her finger still pointing. "What in the world are you doing hanging around with the likes of them! Do you know what they are!"

First impression for most of the group was that she looked like a porcelain doll, or maybe Barbie, and that all she needed was the halo. And then she spoke, and that thought had flown right out the window.

Before Fay could answer, Madeline had turned to Nina. "And you, a Shaman, should know better! How could you let Fay hang out with…with,' she shot them a glare. "With the likes of them."

Hiei reached for his katana. He'd rather have her head then her help.

"That is no way to greet someone!" Botan snapped at the girl. "We may not all be humans but we do have feelings; you can't just talk that way about us!"

Madeline looked Botan up and down, gave her a look that said she was not impressed, and dismissed her words with a flutter of her hand. "I'm not talking about you reaper, oh and by the way, shouldn't you be, you know, reaping souls somewhere…else."

Botan bristled. 'I just met her and I already don't like her!'

"It would be wise for you to take care what words you utter in our presence." Kurama's soft tone was filled with warning. "We do not care for your pretense of superiority."

"Aye, we haven't done anything to ye to be deserving this treatment." Jin bristled. He usually got along with anyone new he met, but this girl was proving the exception. It was hard to believe she was friends with Fay.

Madeline tilted her head upwards, looking down her nose at Jin. "Why don't you go hunt for your lucky cha-" She was cut off as Fay slapped a hand over her mouth and she and Nina dragged her away from the group.

"Excuse us a minute while we threaten to kill her." Nina called back to them.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that we need her to help us, I'd consider throwing her back where she came from." Yusuke groused.

"She's so mean." Rinku huffed. "She doesn't have to look at us that way."

"Do we really need her help?" Kuronue asked.

He'd never stood for anyone looking at him in such a demeaning manner; he didn't see why he should begin now.

"Like it or not, we need her." Genkai had known the moment she'd seen the girl that she would not fit in with this crowd, but they didn't have much choice, not when the clock was running.

"Well I'm not talking to her until she apologizes!" With a huff, Juri headed back into the temple, fuming.

"Come on." Shizuru set a hand on Yukina's shoulder. "We'll leave this to the others."

"Oh…okay." With a worried glance at the group, then the trio of girls, Yukina followed Shizuru inside.

"Does she really not like us?" Yukina asked Shizuru as they headed back inside, Koto following them.

"I'm sure she was just surprised that we weren't all human." Shizuru responded, trying to sound cheerful. "She'll come around." Because if that girl didn't, Shizuru would have to introduce her to her fists.

Yukina smiled, looking relieved. "Of course, you're right."

'Well I'm not buying that.' Koto thought. That girl had oozed superiority.

* * *

"When they were finally far enough,' in Fay's estimation, she released the taller girl. Madeline opened her mouth to demand an explanation, but Fay beat her to it.

"_What the hell do you think you're doing!" _The words were so loud they reached the group, and those who had headed inside the temple, startling them.

"They're taking a long time." Botan muttered. The trio had been arguing for about ten minutes after Fay had shouted those words. "Can anyone tell what they're talking about? Well…besides the obvious."

"I don't care as long as they get her to help us get Keiko back." Yusuke said.

"I don't think she has anything against that, just us." Touya leaned back against the wall of the temple, his attention on the trio of girls.

"Well, we could always try kidnapping my mother." Isis had arrived early in the morning, learned about their predicament and tried tiptoeing out of there, for all the good it had done her. Genkai had dragged her back, telling her to stay put.

Isis would have complained about it for a while, but she'd been presented with some really good homemade cookies, and it would have taken more energy than she was willing to lose anyway. Of course, that didn't mean that she was going to present herself to Madeline. It had only been Fay's shout that had made her curious enough to wonder out here.

"Figures." Yusuke muttered. Neither choice appealed to him. They either went with 'I hate demons girl' or tried making the leader of the Magus faction help them.

The trio of girls finally headed their way, Madeline still looking reluctant, but as they neared, Nina poked her on the side with her elbow and Madeline finally spoke. "I'll help you, but only because that girl's a human." Another poke.

"I mean,' Madeline ground out, trying to sound nice. "I'll help you. And I…I…' a third poke. "Apologize for being so ru…ru…rude. You are all nature's children; it's not up to me to judge."

She shot both girls a glower, as if to ask 'are you happy now?'

"Are you going to open a portal now?" Rinku asked her.

Madeline shook her head, remembering that she had to be polite. "No. Traveling through time is more complicated than just opening a portal. I'm going to need at least…' she trailed off, calculating in her mind. "Thirty minutes to set up the spell."

"So you're saying that traveling through time is harder than travelling to another dimension…that makes sense." Yusuke drawled.

Madeline glowered at the snickering girls by her side. "Well it is!" she snapped back at Yusuke. "So go away until I call you." She whirled away, muttering under her breath as she looked at the ground.

"Come on guys, let's leave her alone." Botan ushered the others back into the temple, though a few took different routes. Hiei jumped onto the ceiling and disappeared. Kurama took a hold of Fay's hand and led her away towards the front of the temple.

Nina would have followed after the group, but before she could, Madeline grabbed her by the back of her dress. "Not you, I have a few questions for you." Madeline looked up from her inspection of the ground and glanced around. "Hey, where'd Fay go?"

"She left with Kurama,' Nina tugged at her dress. "And could you let go now."

Madeline titled her head in question. "Who's Kurama?"

Nina sweat dropped. Nina could honestly say this was the first time Madeline had not noticed the cute guys around her. "You know,' Nina approximated Kurama's height with her hand. "Red hair, green eyes, wearing a blue Chinese outfit with a white sash wrapped around his waist."

Madeline frowned, going over her memory of the group. There had been some cute guys in there, too bad they were all demons. "Ah, the guy with the cold voice." She muttered. He had been cute, but what did he have to do with Fay? She asked Nina this, and watched as the Shaman nervously took a few steps back. "Well…you see…"

Nina rapidly delivered the news and ran off the moment Madeline opened her mouth.

* * *

"You know, contrary to what this situation's showing; my friends and I aren't usually this loud." Fay explained, after Madeline's shout reached them.

Kurama chuckled, leading her to the stairs. "I'm sure you're right. Perhaps she was merely startled by something." He replied innocently.

Fay laughed, wrapping her free arm around Kurama's. "Sorry about Madeline, she…needs an attitude adjustment."

"There is no reason for you to apologize on her behalf." Kurama said softly.

"I know, but I kinda feel responsible." Fay shrugged. "She's my friend."

The two stopped, facing the front of the temple. "Don't you think Botan and the others did a great job decorating the temple? I wonder what Botan told them to talk them into it."

"Fay."

Fay looked up at Kurama, her eyes widening when he cradled her face in his hands and kissed her.

Like always, her thought process shut down, her whole face heating up. For an instant, she had the urge to push him away and run off, but she squashed the urge down and closed her eyes instead.

When he finally ended the kiss, his arms went around her, hugging her tightly to him. "It's already been decided that half of us will stay here, while the other half will go with Yusuke to retrieve Keiko. While I'm gone, please promise me you'll be careful."

"Wait, but…" Fay trailed off when his grip on her tightened. "I know you wish to come with us, but that will mean placing yourself in unnecessary danger. So please, promise me you won't argue, and that you will be careful."

She really wanted to go, Keiko was her friend, what's more, Fay felt as if it were her fault that Keiko had been kidnapped. The least she could do was help in her rescue. But Kurama was right. If she went, it would probably cause more trouble for them, not to mention she really couldn't say no when he looked and sounded so worried about her.

"Okay,' she agreed. "I'll stay here and be careful."

He rested his forehead against hers, his green eyes glittering. "Thank you."

She nodded, working on keeping her blush down, but from the look he was giving her, it wasn't working.

"I realized this sometime ago, but with everything that was going on, I was unable to act on it."

Fay blinked in puzzlement. "Noticed what?"

"We've never been on a date,' Kurama explained to her. "Once this matter has been solved, will you go out on a date with me?"

Fay stood stock still, trying to figure out how exactly to react, at least for the count of three seconds. Her lips curled up into a happy grin and she wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Yes! I'd love to go on a date with you!" In some corner of her mind, she realized she was probably acting like a complete ditz, but right now, she didn't really care.

"Jin, I'm telling you there's no reason for you to,' Botan's voice reached them through the closed door of the temple, then that door flew open, revealing Jin on the other side with Botan behind her. "Go look for her." Botan finished lamely.

She smiled apologetically at the couple. "Sorry for interrupting, but Jin here got a little worried about Fay."

"But since he can clearly see that you're just fine, we'll be going now. Right, Jin?" Smiling, Botan turned to Jin, but at his expression, an unusually serious one for him, her smile slipped. "Uh…Jin, you okay?"

'Uh oh. Don't tell me he's going to try something?' Silently, Botan panicked. While by now Botan knew that Fay would never notice anyone but Kurama, this was definitely not the time for a fight to break out in their group. 'What do I do, what do I do!' She looked at Kurama, who was holding Fay close to him, narrowed eyes on Jin, then Jin. Who looked as if he was about to say something.

"So…uh…,' she scrambled for something to say, something safe. "Oh! What do you think about the lights? I think the boys did a great job with them, right?" she kept her voice cheerful, though her smile looked a little strained.

"Yeah, I was just telling Kurama that." Oblivious to the tension, Fay smiled up at Jin. "You must've done the ones further up, right? They look great."

Botan nearly sighted out loud when Jin broke into a grin. "Aye, none of the others could. Almost fell twice I did, what with being tired an all." He could have left one of the others do it, but he'd been hoping to show it to Fay from the air. He still would, just as soon as he got her away from Kurama.

"That's right. Congrats on passing your test, so how'd you beat Isis? What's her weakness?" Fay stepped out of Kurama's embrace, took his hand and led the way up the wooden stairs.

"Did she whine a lot? Isis was always whining back at school, you know."

Jin cheerfully began to tell Fay how'd they'd won, Kurama silently keeping pace on her other side.

Once they were out of range, Botan let out her trapped sigh. 'That was too close. I'm really going to need to have a talk with that girl.' Now she just needed to find a way to make Fay understand what she was talking about. 'The girl's bound to think I'm joking.'

* * *

"So this stuff's supposed to do what?" Yusuke crouched inside a large glowing circular pentagram, trying to make sense of the symbols. "I don't see why you can't just open a portal."

"Because this requires more precision than that." Madeline explained, half her attention on finishing up the last of her preparations. "Especially if you don't want your upper body to end up in the 1930's while the rest of you ends up in the 1600's."

That picture sent a shiver down Yusuke's spine. "In that case, take your time."

Madeline finished muttering a spell and stepped back, examining her work. "Okay,' she raised a hand, gesturing for Fay to join her. "I need you in the middle, Fay."

Kurama wrapped an arm around Fay's waist, pulling her back. "Fay will not be coming with us."

Hands on hips, Madeline turned to Kurama. "Listen, in any other case, I'd agree. However, a time spell needs a source of power, a large source of power. Unless all of you want to get to your destination worn out, we need her to power the spell. So hand her over."

She was not a happy witch right now, and her manner showed it. Madeline supposed that she could have tolerated the fact that her tomboyish friend had a boyfriend while she didn't, if the guy had been fully human. But no, he had to be a demon in a human body. A witch could always tell that kind of thing, and Madeline thought it her job to keep Fay from his type, cute or not, especially considering that Fay was now the most powerful weapon known to the Factions. But that would have to wait, right now her mission was to be a good Samaritan and rescue a human from the clutches of those false angels.

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Touya asked her.

Madeline shook her head. "Nope, there isn't. Besides, I've already factored her into my calculations; this spell won't work without her power."

"Did you think it unnecessary to consult us on such a matter?" Kurama's green eyes flashed, his voice sounding more than displeased at the witch.

Madeline tilted her chin up, her gaze challenging as she crossed her arms in front of her. "She's my friend, do you think I'd put her in a dangerous situation? That's insulting."

The rest of the group could almost feel the degrees dropping, and not because of the cold.

Isis sighted. 'This is stupid. Why can't Genkai just let me go home, it's not like I'll be teaching anyone today.'

"Enough you two." Genkai stepped in before the situation worsened. "Kurama, we can't waste anymore time, we'll have to trust that this girl knows what she's doing."

"I'm sorry Kurama." Yusuke said walking over to him. "But Keiko's waiting for us, and we can't let her down. If we had more time I'd agree with you, but…" he trailed off his eyes dark with worry. "We don't."

"You know, I'm here too. I can decide for myself." Fay looked up at Kurama. "Yusuke's right. And I trust Madeline. I promise I'll still be careful, but we have to go now."

Kurama finally gave in, reluctantly letting go of Fay so she could walk over to Madeline, who guided her to her spot.

"Okay, whoever's coming, step into the circle now." She told the others.

Hiei stepped into the circle, setting himself to Fay's right. Kurama followed, and so did the rest of the boys.

"I'll stay behind with the girls." Genkai said. "Isis and Nina will help while Botan reports in with Koenma."

Botan waved. "Be careful all of you, we'll be waiting here."

"Please bring Keiko back safely." Yukina bowed to them.

"Good luck, and you better not get your ass kicked, Kuwabara." Shizuru warned him.

Kuwabara grinned. "No way, this time I'll have the bad guys running for their lives."

"Still living in that daze of stupidity I see." Hiei smirked.

Kuwabara glared at him. "We'll see if you're saying that when I'm saving you!"

"Ha!" Hiei scoffed.

"Don't yah worry bout me, sheila." Chu said, looking straight at Koto who shuddered. "I'll be coming back soon."

"Please, take your time." She answered, making a shooing motion.

"Enough talking. Let's go." Shishi said.

Madeline began to speak in a strange language, every third word echoing with what sounded like a bell toll. The pentagram beneath them brightened at the sound. She spoke one more word, this one sounding like thunder, and with a flash of light, they disappeared, but not before Koto's ears caught Madeline's last word, which happened to be 'oops'.

* * *

One moment they were there, the next they were somewhere else. They arrived at the outskirts of a thick forest just as the sun began to set.

Unlike Mary Anne's method of traveling, this one had been painless, almost as if they'd been in an elevator going up three floors.

Except for one thing. "What the hell do you mean by oops!" Yusuke demanded once they'd arrived. "If you tell me we've ended up in the wrong time…" he trailed off when Madeline shook her head.

"Fay!"

Everyone turned to Kurama, then to where Fay should have been standing.

Hiei glared up at the witch. "I thought you said this wouldn't be dangerous to her! Where is she!" He took a threatening step her way.

"I…just forgot a minor detail, nothing big." Madeline's superior attitude was missing as she tried to quickly explain, a worried light in her eyes. "I added Fay and her power, but I…forgot to add in that it was all one being."

"Where is she?" Kuronue demanded.

Madeline quickly studied their surroundings. "Well…the good news is, she's in the same time frame. The bad news; she's probably a hundred…miles in an unknown direction."

She'd never been glared at by so many displeased people, much less guys, even if most of them were demons.

"Which way is Keiko?" Yusuke asked.

Madeline pointed to the east. In the distance, they could see a very tall Japanese castle.

"I guess we'll have to split up." Rinku said. "Half of us can go look for Fay, the others can rescue Keiko."

"It's not like we have much choice now,' Suzuka shot Madeline a sideways glance, which she ignored.

"Okay, so who's going to look for Fay and who's going after Keiko?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, Shishi, and I will go after Keiko." Touya said. "Chu, Jin, Rinku, Suzuka, Kuronue; you will go look for Fay. Jin and Kuronue will be able to cover more ground in flight."

The two nodded.

"Thanks,' Yusuke said. "We'll meet back here."

"We'll make sure to bring back your sheila safe, mate." Chu set a hand on Kurama's shoulder, noticing that he looked torn. "So you go help Yusuke get his back."

Kurama finally nodded. "Very well."

"What about you?" Rinku asked Madeline.

"I'm staying here,' she replied. "I can take care of myself, and I need to readjust this spell for our return trip, not to mention fix that little problem."

"Then we'll be seeing you when we get back." Jin took to the air, heading west. Kuronue spread his wings, his gaze on Kurama. "I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know." Kurama answered before he headed after Yusuke and his group.

"Let's go Rinku." Chu hauled Rinku onto his shoulder. "We better find Fay before she gets into trouble."

Suzuka took off in a different direction than the others. 'If this is before the barrier was erected, Fay may really be in trouble.' He just hoped one of them got to her before she got herself killed.

* * *

He had made up his mind, and yet the further he walked from her, the more he wanted to simply turn around and go back into her embrace. But he knew it was impossible. He could never return to her until he'd proven himself worthy of her. Until then, he had sworn never to eat another human. He now traveled to meet his friends and let them know his decision, although he was certain none of them would agree with it.

The scream startled him out of his thoughts and he turned in its direction. It was past dark, most humans knew better than to be out when demons roamed the most. 'Hm, if a human is stupid enough to be out at this time, she deserves death.' He started walking again, then stopped as he remembered his oath. Perhaps fate had heard him, and this would be his first step towards the day when he could return to her.

Raizen changed directions, heading towards the voice.

* * *

'Could I be any stupider?' In her defense, she'd never woken up to some lizard like demon gawking down at her. Still, screaming like some dumb bimbo hadn't been the smartest move, especially since it had brought her to the attention of more weird demons.

She scooted back as the lizard demon hissed angrily at her, the anger because she'd automatically brought her hand up and slapped him once or twice before kicking him away. 'I don't see why he's so angry; I'm the one with the throbbing hand.' Too late, she'd learned that the scales weren't just there for decoration. She stumbled to her feet and backed away, trying to keep all five demons in sight.

Her back hit a wooden wall, letting her know that she was now cornered.

"What do we have here?" A demon that looked a lot like an ox walking upright took a step closer, and Fay took a step down the wall.

"Do you smell that?" The pig demon to her left snorted as he sniffed the air close to her. "She smells like power."

The lizard hissed. "Then she's mine, I found her first!"

'Madeline, if I get out of this alive, I swear I'm going to kill you.'

A hairy bear demon shoved the lizard away. "You're a wealking, what makes you think you deserve such a treat!"

The frog demon suddenly hopped towards her. "She's mine!" His long slobbery tongue slipped out, heading for her. She couldn't help it, she screamed again. "Get away from me!"

The tongue never reached her; the ox demon grabbed the frog demon and hurled him away. Since he was the largest there, she supposed he thought he should get her. 'Yeah right, you come near me and I'll step on your,' she looked down at his feet and realized he had hooves, not feet. 'I'll trip you!' Then use whatever she could get her hands on to beat his head in.

The demons began fighting amongst themselves. Taking the opportunity, Fay made a run for it, only to trip as the frog demon's tongue wrapped around her leg.

"Let me go!" she jerked her right leg, trying to dislodge the slimy disgusting thing from around her.

"She's mine!" The bear demon launched himself at her. Scared, and not knowing what else to do, Fay brought her hands up, bracing herself for impact.

* * *

**AN: Sorry for the long delay. **

_Next Chapter Preview_

_"I can't betray him; well it's more that I won't. He's looked after us for ages, literally. He's more like a father to me than anything else. So even if he's being a complete idiot about this, I'm not about to betray him. So no, I won't help you escape."_

_Sighing, Keiko looked away. "I guess I can understand that."_

_"Don't look so depressed. Your friends should be arriving soon to rescue you." Arel smiled encouragingly. "Maybe they can pound some sense into Azrael. I mean, if they manage to get through all of us."_

_Keiko looked back at him. "You're going to fight them?"_

_Arel nodded. "It's not like I have any other choice, but I have heard they're pretty tough. They must be to bring down the Demon Faction, so I'm sure whoever I end up fighting will defeat me."_

_"Are you…going to throw the fight?"_

_"Nope, that wouldn't be fair, but I'm sure they'll still manage."_


	55. Chapter 55: Living in the Past

Chapter 54: Living in the Past

_**Here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews. ^_^**_

_**

* * *

**_

The demon frog screamed, she heard the bear demon hit something and grunt. Cautiously, Fay opened her eyes and peeked past her hands.

'The barrier!' She'd completely forgotten she could do that. Grinning, she stood, shaking her right leg to get rid of the severed tongue around it.

"Ha! Serves you right for trying to eat me." Her hand went to her wrist, where her bracelet rested. Maybe she could use that to increase the barrier's power. When she didn't feel it, she brought up her wrist, narrowing her eyes to get a better look at her right wrist, then her left.

'Hold on…where's my bracelet!' She couldn't lose that bracelet, it was too important to her!

The ox demon slammed himself against her barrier. When it wavered, Fay brought all her attention back to it.

'For now, let's concentrate on staying alive until the guys can find me.' Hopefully she hadn't landed to far from them, like another time period.

The pig demon snorted in laughter. "Don't think your little barrier can keep us out forever; we have all night."

The other demons laughed, making Fay shiver. They'd surrounded her and taking turns, they kept slamming themselves against her barrier. Even worse, this soon brought them to the attention of other demons that joined in.

'Why isn't anyone helping me?' She was in the middle of an old dirt street. Small wooden homes were lined up on both sides, and although now and then she could see someone peering out through the windows, no one came to help.

'They could at least throw rocks.'

A large demon slammed himself against her barrier, it wavered again, the cogs stopping their movement for a few seconds before continuing again.

Fay tried to feed it more energy, but she'd never really learned how to do that, and she was getting the feeling that all she was doing was tantamount to waving a large bright red flag above her head and announcing what she was to all the demons.

"I get her leg!" She heard a demon shout.

Fay shook her head and covered her ears. 'I'm not here, I'm not here! Go away, leave me alone!' she fell to her knees, shutting her eyes tightly. 'I'm not here!'

It didn't seem to be working.

Although she'd covered her ears, she still heard the fight that broke out, the shouts of 'Raizen' and 'we found her first!'

Then there was a large blast of spirit energy followed by screaming, many death gargles, and scrambling by the demons around her.

Unable to help it, Fay opened her eyes and stared. The few demons that remained, she could see running away, but her attention soon centered on the tall white hair demon that stopped in front of her, just outside her shrinking barrier.

He stared down at her with cold eyes before he looked away, continuing past her.

"You're making too much noise, human."

Fay stared after him, wondering who he was and why'd he'd helped. A shadow moved to her left.

Fay scrambled to her feet, dropping the barrier and running after the demon.

He walked like he owned the place, as if he knew no one would dare make a move against him. He wasn't particularly fast, intended she was sure, but his legs were much longer and she was almost running to keep up with him.

Fay glanced back, realized some demons were still following and sped up.

"Umm...excuse me…"

He didn't answer.

"Thank you for saving me back there, my name's Fay."

He glanced down at her when she managed to gain his side, but otherwise didn't speak.

Not really knowing what else to say, Fay concentrated on keeping up with him.

He kept moving for over an hour until they were deep within a forest and when she stumbled and fell, he stopped, sitting on the ground while she caught her breath.

'So…this is how marathon runners feel…nice to know.'

"What are you?"

Fay looked up, startled that he'd finally spoken after so long.

"Human." She answered.

He took a deep breath through his nose. On anyone else, she'd find it insulting, but he was a little scary, plus he had saved her life.

"You smell like it, but there's something else there. Something that smells like power, and the ocean; perhaps both are the same thing."

Fay sat down on the grass, wrapping her hands around her knees.

"It's a long story. Let's just say fate screwed me over and serendipity decided to well…take pity on me."

It wasn't quite a smile, but it was close to it. "I have the time."

Deciding she'd rather tell him her history than start on a second marathon, Fay took a deep breath and begun her story.

* * *

'It's been over a day now. Yusuke, what's taking so long?' She wouldn't think that her friends hadn't yet found a way to get to her, she knew they would.

"Keep up."

Keiko hurried after Hakel, wondering where she was being taken now. Hakel had looked after her since Keiko had finished dinner last night.

Today she had woken to find another kimono set out for her and breakfast on a table in her room. After that, Hakel had arrived; showing her the castle grounds and even the garden, but Keiko hadn't had a chance to escape at all.

Hakel stopped in front of a double door and flung them open. The room on the other side of the doors was decorated in gold's', reds, and oranges, matching the clothes of the young man sitting on an armchair reading a comic book.

"Arel,' Hakel stepped aside, gesturing for Keiko to precede her. Hesitantly, Keiko complied.

Arel looked up from his comic book. "What's up?"

"You're to guard Kathleen."

"My name's Keiko."

"Until everything is in place." Hakel continued as if Keiko hadn't spoken.

"Yeah, whatever." Arel shrugged and went back to his reading.

"Do not attempt to escape." Hakel warned Keiko before she shut the doors, the click of a lock sounding soon after.

Uncertain, Keiko looked around the room, then at the Malaika sitting on the armchair.

"I'm not Kathleen, you know." She stated firmly.

Arel flipped a page and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

Startled, Keiko stared at him. "Then why are you going along with this?"

Arel raised his eyes to her. "Suriel told me about your reaction to the jewelry, and that it was no less and no more than the rest of your friends. You have her soul, I'll admit to that, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're her, because your heart isn't hers, it's yours. However, to Azrael that doesn't really matter. And since he's my family, I can't really do anything but support him."

"Even when he's wrong?" Keiko demanded.

Arel nodded. "I can't betray him; well it's more that I won't. He's looked after us for ages, literally. He's more like a father to me than anything else. So even if he's being a complete idiot about this, I'm not about to betray him. So no, I won't help you escape."

Sighing, Keiko looked away. "I guess I can understand that."

"Don't look so depressed. Your friends should be arriving soon to rescue you." Arel smiled encouragingly. "Maybe they can pound some sense into Azrael. I mean, if they manage to get through all of us."

Keiko looked back at him. "You're going to fight them?"

"Well, yeah. It's not like I have any other choice, but I have heard they're pretty tough. They must be to bring down the Demon Faction, so I'm sure whoever I end up fighting will defeat me."

"Are you…going to throw the fight?"

"Nope, that wouldn't be fair, but I'm sure they'll still manage." He leaned down, picked up a comic book from one of the three large piles at his feet and tossed it to Keiko.

"So until they come get you, relax, read a comic book." He gestured to the arm chair across from him. "And sit down; it's a lot more comfortable."

Keiko looked at the comic book in her hand. Walking over to the armchair she sat, opening the book. 'Yusuke, please come soon.'

* * *

Hakel hurried to Azrael's room, pausing a few feet from where he worked. "They approach."

Azrael set down the book of spells. "I have not yet completed my research. Go greet our guests, Hakel. Make certain the others are in position."

She bowed. "Of course." Hakel retreated from the room, meeting all but one of their members in the corridor.

"Well?" Ashriel asked. "How should we delay our guests? I can activate the traps, but that might not be enough."

"It won't." Hakel responded.

"Melee, then?"

Hakel shook her head. "No, I believe one on one will do, but with a small change that should buy Azrael enough time to return Kathleen to her former self."

"And that would be?" Suriel asked.

Hakel smiled. "Simple enough…"

* * *

The group had expected some sort of defense once they reached the castle's front gates, but it was completely empty, the gate itself open.

They raced across the courtyard to the doors to find that they too were open.

"Either they have the worse security in the world, or we're expected." Yusuke said, stepping inside.

"It may very well be a trap." Kurama cautioned.

"Not like we can do anything about it." Yusuke said. "Not as long as they have Keiko."

He took a deep breath and shouted. "Okay! We're here, so hand Keiko over or prepare to get your asses kicked!"

"There goes our element of surprise." Shishi muttered. They were in a large echoing foyer, in the distance he could make out a winding staircase leading upwards.

"Great, another staircase,' Kuwabara grumbled. "Why can't these places ever have elevators, or at least escalators?"

"I hope you don't expect an answer to such a foolish question." The words reached them before the figure materialized in a flurry of white feathers.

The boys tensed, ready to attack if necessary, at least all but Kuwabara. 'I am not fighting a girl!' he thought stubbornly.

"Where's Keiko!" Yusuke demanded, taking a threatening step forward.

"By the time you reach her, she will not recognize that name nor any of you." Hakel stopped in the middle of the foyer, her right hand going to the hilt of her sword and pulling it from its sheath.

"However, you are welcome to continue with your foolish quest,' she pointed the tip of her sword at them. "If you can get through me."

The battle field rose around them, but this time the six could feel a difference in it.

'Don't tell me-' before Kurama could finish the thought, the battle field began to transform.

The foyer doubled in size, the ceiling and walls disappeared to reveal a moonlit sky; except that here and there they could also see other planets, much closer than the moon itself. The marble floor beneath them turned to gray stone, and a barrier rose up between them and Hakel.

"Let me guess,' Touya said grimly. "This is a level two battle field."

"It seems you're well informed." Hakel said. "Yes, this is that. To allay your fears, no, you will not need to seek out the cornerstone, in the small possibility that you defeat me. If you manage such a feat, the cornerstone shall appear to you immediately. However, for that to happen one of you must face me. The rules are simple: no interference is allowed within this battle field until one has fallen."

Hiei stepped forward. "In that case I'll finish this quickly." He walked through the barrier, unsheathing his katana.

Hakel moved into her battle stance. "Seems I will finally be able to punish you for your impudence at our last meeting."

"Hn! I highly doubt that." Hiei rushed her.

* * *

When Fay had finished telling her story, he was silent, again. Her eyes were beginning to droop when he at last spoke. "I know a Kurama. He's a young thief, but he sounds more like the Youko you mentioned."

Raizen watched as her eyes brightened and she scooted closer to him.

"You know Youko?"

He nodded. "I think you may be confused, it sounds to me as if they're both one and the same."

She tilted her head, puzzled. "Who?"

"Youko Kurama." He answered.

"You mean Youko and Kurama. I think Kurama knows Youko, but he doesn't seem to like talking about him. I wonder why."

"You misunderstood."

When she gave him that same puzzled look, he shook his head and stood.

Fay scrambled to her feet again and hurried to catch up with him, when he noticed, Raizen slowed his step.

Half an hour later, he spoke again. "My name, it's Raizen."

Fay smiled up at him, a trusting friendly smile that up until a few days ago, he would have enjoyed wiping off her face by ripping her throat open. Now…he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Nice to meet you Raizen."

It was the first time anyone had said something like that to him.

There was a word for people like this strange human girl; he just had to find it. Once he did, he couldn't help the smile that stretched over his lips.

Fay lost track of how long she followed Raizen. After telling her his name, he kept silent, moving through the woods with that same assured stride. Now and then she caught a glimpse of demons in the shadows of the woods, but they appeared too scared to approach with Raizen there.

'He must be really strong.' She thought, hurrying to catch up with him again.

She was about to ask if they could stop when they neared a clearing, the sound of voices reached her before she saw the group of demons gathered around a campfire.

As soon as the demons spotted Raizen, they called out friendly greetings. One of the demons, a woman with light green hair, stood up and headed for Raizen.

"It's about time you got back, where have you been for three days?" she demanded. Then the demon woman caught sight of Fay.

"What's with the human?"

"Maybe he brought us a snack." A silver skinned demon leaned down to examine her, reaching a hand out to her.

"Don't touch me!" Fay backed away from him, stepping closer to Raizen.

"Let her be." Raizen warned the demon.

"That's unlike you, Raizen." A large red skinned, horned demon peered over Raizen's shoulder. "I never thought you'd decide to take a human pet."

"I'm not a pet!" Fay bristled, startling the demon.

"And just because I'm human doesn't mean I'm stupid, so don't talk like I'm not here!"

She immediately regretted her words since it brought the group's attention to her.

The red skinned demon laughed. "She's a firecracker."

Fay's eye twitched. 'I'll show you firecracker, you little…'

"I've come to a decision." At Raizen's words, all attention switched to him.

"You mean you're finally ready to marry me?" The green haired demoness asked.

Ignoring her words, Raizen continued. "I have decided to stop eating humans, and fighting these meaningless battles."

Fay's eyes grew large at his words. 'Hold on…he eats humans?' Now that she thought about it, the silver demon had called her a snack. In that case… she definitely agreed with the no human diet.

The other demons didn't like it at all. The moment the words left his mouth, they all began arguing against it, calling it foolish.

"You can't be serious; you'll die if you don't eat!" A blue hair demon exclaimed.

They all kept trying to change his mind, but all Raizen did was stand there quietly while they barraged him with words.

"Is it because of this little human?" A demon with horns picked her up by the scruff of her jacket, glaring at her.

"Hey, let go!" Fay tried to punch him, but his arm reach was longer, and she didn't even come close to touching him.

"No." Raizen took her from the demon, though she would have appreciated it more if he weren't treating her like a handbag.

"This is my decision, one I will not change." He looked at the green haired demoness. "I met a human woman,' they all looked at Fay, who shook her head in quick denial.

"Another one, more mature and far more beautiful."

'There goes the last of my ego.' Fay thought wryly.

"She made me realize how meaningless all this fighting, the hunt, has become. Until I see her again, I will never eat a human."

"So you're dumping me!" The demoness shouted. "For a human tramp!"

When Raizen didn't answer, the demoness spun away. "Fine! But you just watch, you'll come begging for me to take you back soon!"

She stomped away, grumbling under her breath.

"We can't agree with this, Raizen." The red skinned demon said, sounding almost sorry.

"I know, Enki."

With a sad shake of his head, Enki followed after the demoness.

"Look after Koku." Raizen said.

Enki stopped, nodded without turning around and continued walking.

"I hope you find whatever you're looking for, Raizen." Enki called over his shoulder.

The rest of the demons stayed, uncertain of what to do, but soon they too began following Enki.

"Hold on!" Fay shrugged out of her jacket, landing on her feet.

"He's your friend! You don't just abandon your friends because he decided to change his lifestyle, you support him! And if it's stupid, you still support him!"

Koku glared at the human. "You don't know what you're talking about, brat, so stay out of it unless you want to become a snack."

Fay returned the glare. "I know exactly what I'm saying, you're the idiot! I would never abandon my friends, especially when they need me. His reasons for doing this may not sound important to you, but they are too him. Shouldn't that be enough?"

Her jacket was draped over her head, and she looked up at Raizen. "Let them go, it's their decision."

When he started away from the clearing, Fay glanced from the demons still watching them, to Raizen. She shrugged into her jacket and headed after him.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Fay kept looking over her shoulder, expecting Raizen's friends to come after him. "They're going to show up right, Raizen?"

He didn't answer.

"They're your friends, they should understand."

He still didn't answer.

"What's so wrong with not eating humans anymore? There's always fruits and vegetables."

She could almost swear that he smiled, but the next second his expression was impassive again.

"My body doesn't take well to those, our kind must eat humans to survive and keep up our strength. Nothing else will do."

"Oh…" She didn't know what to say. As a human, she really didn't like the idea of her kind being eaten…but… "Have you considered a prison diet?" she suggested. "Death row maybe?"

This time she was sure he smiled.

"I've made up my mind. I won't go back on my word."

Fay came to a halt, her gaze troubled. When Raizen noticed it he stopped, turning back to her.

"In that case, I don't think it's a very good idea for you to stay with me." She said.

"And why is that?" Raizen questioned.

Fay looked away. "I tend to attract a lot of attention, the bad kind. If you stay with me, you'll end up fighting, and you said you wouldn't fight any more meaningless battles."

He walked back to her, turned his back to her and crouched. "Get on. With your speed, we'll never get there."

Hesitantly, Fay wrapped her arms around his neck, tightening her grip when he stood. "But what about what I said?"

"What I said was that I wouldn't fight meaningless battles." Raizen answered. "I doubt that fighting to keep you safe is meaningless." He started running, speeding through the forest.

Raizen nodded when Fay whispered her thanks.

* * *

Chu watched as the demon ran off. 'Nothing but weaklings round here.' Not to mention none of them had seen Fay.

"You done there, Rinku?" Chu called.

"Yup." Rinku rejoined Chu, a grin on his face. "And I got some information too. One of the demons I captured said that a strange human girl was seen to the north of here."

"Hmm, strange you say,' Chu rubbed his chin, looking in the direction Rinku pointed. "That does sound like Fay. Come on kid, we better find her before she calls more attention to herself."

"Personally, I think it's a little late for that." Rinku headed after Chu. "He also said that she'd been seen wondering with some powerful demon."

'Well that's no good.' By now Chu knew Fay well enough to know that she trusted too easily, an admirable trait, unless she was wrong about the person.

* * *

Jin hit the ground on his knees, struggling to keep the wind from escaping. 'She wasn't kidding when she said it'd be difficult.' Most of his concentration was going to keeping the power inside him in check.'I could have passed Fay and not known it at all.' It wouldn't do, he had to concentrate on finding her.

He stood, closing his eyes and calming his mind. 'I can't be failing now, she's depending on me.' He bend the wind to his will and blasted off, for a few moments going much faster and higher than he'd intended. He willed the wind to obey him, and after a short struggle, managed it. He hated to admit it, but Isis was right, he'd be needing more training to manage this as easily as she made it look.

* * *

Kuronue landed on a thick branch, folded his wings quietly and knelt, listening to the two low level demons beneath him.

"We can't take the human if she's with _him. _He'll squash us like bugs."

"We won't have to face him, all we have to do is gather as many demons as possible, and while they're keeping him busy, we snatch the human and eat her."

The first demon laughed menacingly. "Sounds like a plan."

The two demons headed away, leaving Kuronue to think. 'Human… there's only one human I know who any demon would go through so much trouble to gain." He could keep looking on his own, or he could simply follow these weaklings until they led him to Fay. Smiling coldly, he stood, his wings spreading behind him. As soon as they led him to Fay, he would dispose of them.

* * *

"You're telling me she's with _him_?" Suzuka couldn't believe what the pig demon had informed him after he'd beat him down a few times. But if it were true, this situation was about to get much more dangerous.

"I'm telling you,' the demon snorted. "He just showed up, killed most of us, and she followed him."

Suzuka inwardly shook his head. 'Fay, Fay, Fay.' She should have run the other way… then again…

"Raah!" Suzuka materialized a crystal dagger and threw it at the attacking demon, striking his throat and killing him. "Unlike you, I'm no weakling." And it was thanks to Fay that he'd managed to gain this strength, he couldn't let anyone, including Raizen, harm her. 'Not to mention the beating Yusuke will give us before Kurama finishes us off.' He took off running, hurrying to follow the demon's trail back the way he had come.

* * *

Hakel easily parried Hiei's strike, then pushed against him until he found himself sliding back. He stopped himself, managing to take a step forward, but not enough to make her take one back.

"You are ages, quite literally, behind me." She was still there, but at the same time, she was to Hiei's left and right.

"Hiei, she's behind you!" Yusuke shouted.

Hiei leapt into the air, avoiding being sliced into three. When he landed, he once more faced one opponent.

"Using your dirty tricks again, I see." Hiei scoffed, his tone disdainful.

"Not at all." Hakel replied calmly. "Simply put, my agility far surpasses that of yours, thus it seems as if there are more than one of me."

He scowled. "Are you calling me slow?" He raced towards her, bringing his katana up to attack, but the blade went right through her and before he could move, he found her blade at his throat.

"In one word: yes." She pushed the blade against his neck, but Hiei managed to throw himself back just enough to keep his throat from being sliced open. He hit the ground, brought his feet up and lashed out at Hakel, but she was gone again.

Hiei got to his feet, wiping the string of blood across his neck.

"What are you doing, Hiei! Stop stumbling around and fight!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Quiet, you fool!" Hiei didn't bother looking his direction. "What do you think I'm doing?"

Hakel moved again. Hiei brought up his katana, stopped her sword on the first and second strikes, but her third came from a completely different direction.

He jerked to the left, Hakel's blade cutting a thin line down the side of his face before he managed to move far enough away.

She landed in a crouch, stood and headed after him, her speed increasing until he couldn't make her out at all.

"Hiei, beneath you!"

Heeding Yusuke's warning, Hiei looked down, bringing his katana up before him. Hakel's blade struck his own, then ripped it out of his grip even as she brought her foot up in a high kick that hurled him into the air.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Hiei! Don't just let her kick you around like that!" Yusuke shouted.

"It would have been hard enough trying to keep up with her, but with the added strain on his body, I don't think Hiei can do more than he's already doing." Touya said grimly.

"What do you mean added strain?" Kurama questioned.

"Before we left, Isis handed over her elementals to us. She said it would increase our ability, as well as show us what it truly takes to handle an elemental." Touya explained. "She also talked Hiei into taking her fire elemental. The problem with that is that they keep straining against us." Touya looked down at his hand; it had a slight blue tinge to it thanks to Ceres's power bleeding out of him. "It takes a lot of power to keep them restrained. I can honestly say this is the hardest thing I've ever done."

"Isis is only training you two, why give Hiei her elemental?" Yusuke asked. "Heck, how did she get him to agree?"

Kurama shook his head, returning his attention to the fight. "Simple enough, she questioned his ability."

"Okay, so if he has an elemental why isn't he using it to fight her?" Kuwabara demanded. "Isn't that what it's for?"

"It is…' Touya's eyes darkened grimly, "If you know how to control it."

"That doesn't sound good." Kuwabara muttered.

Their attention returned to the fight, where Hiei had just barely managed to dodge Hakel's incoming strike, but not before it cut a streak across his forehead, tearing his bandanna in two.

Hiei opened his Jagan eye, pulling on his control to keep the fire from consuming him from the inside, and tried to follow Hakel's movements. 'She's getting faster.'

It meant that she'd been toying with him. The knowledge made him angry, but that feeling threatened to break his control, so he restrained himself and concentrated on blocking her over and over again.

'Damn! This is getting me nowhere!' With his Jagan open, he could follow her movements better, except now it appeared to him as if there were more than one of her, but the moment he struck, they disappeared, revealing that they had been after images.

He stumbled back after her next attack, hitting the ground.

'What the hell.' He thought resigned. Even if he did end up dead, he'd at least take the woman along with him.

He stood up, about to release his hold on the elemental.

Hakel disappeared from before him. No matter where he looked he couldn't find her, and then Hiei felt her grip as she sent him flying up.

"I'm done playing, little demon." Hakel brought her sword up, the blade cutting at his chest.

He hit the ground hard, his right hand going to his chest where the blood had begun to seep from the wound.

"Stop it!" He heard Yusuke shout. "Let Hiei go! I'll take his place!"

"Don't you dare think about it, detective!" Hiei snarled. "This is my battle!"

"Don't be stupid, Hiei! She's about to kill you!" Yusuke shouted back.

Hakel stomped hard on his chest before he could rise. "It appears I will soon have the pleasure of killing your detective friend as well." Hakel brought the sword down over his heart.

* * *

"So where exactly are we going?" Fay asked after Raizen set her back down sometime later.

"To see your thief, but I warn you, he may not be what you expect."

Fay couldn't help her smile. "That's okay, he's still Youko." Besides, he couldn't have changed all that much…right?

She would have hurried through the woods then, but Raizen stopped her, and she soon saw why. A spear landed a few feet from her. Raizen looked up and so did Fay.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A disembodied voice called down.

"My name is Raizen. I'm here to see your leader."

The voice gasped. "I apologize, I didn't know it was you oh, great Raizen."

Fay raised an eyebrow in question, her eyes going to Raizen.

He gave her a quick glance before heading past the two thick trees.

'They make him sound like his royalty.' Fay followed closely, giving the tree a last look. She still couldn't see the demon, but she could feel it watching them.

"Stay close." Raizen warned her.

Fay nodded, her gaze searching for a silver hair demon once they entered the bandits camp. More than a few demons stopped whatever they were doing to stare as she passed.

'I'm not here, I'm not here.' Fay repeated in her head, hoping they were starring cause she was human and not because they could sense her power.

'Then again, Raizen said he could smell it.' If it clung to her like a smell… 'I am so screwed.'

It also reminded Fay that she should be looking for her friends, not coming to see Youko, but she couldn't help it. She'd wanted to see him up close for a while, to be able to talk to him, not see him right before she fainted, or in the distance.

She finally spotted him speaking to another demon. Although it looked more like he was listening, face impassive, while the other demon raved.

"It's the perfect time!" The demon hissed. "We can bring the humans down and take over the territory if we strike now! Think of it! I'm sure they'll have great riches hidden inside!"

"No." The one word from Youko silenced the unknown demon. "It is not the time to strike, Yomi. Do not disobey me this time."

Yomi opened his mouth to argue, but Youko simply walked away, heading their way.

"I was informed you'd come. Why?" Youko asked.

'He sounds…colder.' Fay couldn't help the shiver it sent down her back.

That small movement brought Youko's attention to her.

His golden eyes narrowed as he studied her. "What are you?"

Fay found herself feeling scared, but she knew that wasn't why her heart was beating so fast.

She tried to get her voice to work, but not even her mouth was cooperating with her right now. All Fay could do was stare.

When she didn't speak, Kurama stepped closer to her. "Are you scared little human?" His ears twitched as the sound of her heart reached him.

He set fingers to her chin, raising her head higher. "You haven't answered; what are you?"

This close, her scent wafted over him, puzzling him. The smell was human, yet not. But that wasn't what puzzled him. His scent lingered over her. It was…different, but still his. It should have been impossible. He had never met this little human before. He would have remembered.

"I'm losing my patience." He warned softly.

"I lo-" She clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. "I…I mean, I…thought you…no, you…remind me of someone else. Yeah, that's all. And I…uh…am human, that's all." Her words came out in a rush, muffled somewhat by the hands she still held over her mouth.

She dropped them, trying to move away from him. He gripped her wrist, keeping her in place.

"Your voice…" He couldn't help feeling as if he should know it.

'Ridiculous.' He let go of her, curling his hand against the warmth.

"Leave now." He turned away from them. "Whatever she is, I don't need the trouble she'll bring."

'He's leaving.' Panic rushed through Fay and she ran after him, her hand reaching out to grab him before he could leave, but Raizen stopped her, placing himself between her and the retreating figure. "Let's go find your friends."

"Oh…yeah…my friends." Fay shook her head, trying to clear her thinking. 'That's right; I've already wasted enough time wondering around. I have to find them; maybe they've already found Keiko.'

That's what she had to do; not stand here acting like an infatuated idiot. Besides, and she still couldn't believe she'd almost said that, she didn't love Youko, she loved Kurama. She would never love anyone else.

So the further from Youko she was, the better.

Without waiting for Raizen to take the lead, Fay headed back the way they'd come, moving as quickly as she could without looking as if she were running away.

Raizen easily followed, staying silent until they were well away from the camp and Fay finally turned to face him.

"I'm not sure where my friends are. I tried contacting Hiei, but I don't think I did it right, I'm no psychic." She bit her lip, trying to think. "The Factions... I think… well from what I've seen so far, they prefer to live away from humans whenever possible. So somewhere secluded, but big. They also seem to like their space."

"I know a place like that." Raizen said. "An abandoned castle some distance from here."

Fay nodded. "Okay, let's try that place then."

There was a rustle of leaves above them before Youko landed, startling Fay and sending her heartbeat into a frenzy.

"I hope you don't mind if I tag along."

"But I thought you didn't want me around." Fay said, trying to control the breathlessness in her voice.

"It is why I am here alone."

Fay tilted her head, confused.

"There is no reason to speak of it. Shall we head out?"

Fay glanced at Raizen, but he didn't seem inclined to answer her either. "Get on; we will never reach our destination with your speed."

'Yeah, yeah.'

"That is unnecessary." Youko set a staying hand on her shoulder before she could climb onto Raizen's back.

"I will carry her."

Shivers raced down her spine. Fay shrugged away from him. "No, it's…uh…okay; I don't want to trouble you." she said quickly.

"In other words; she prefers I carry her." Raizen returned.

Youko's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is that so…"

Raizen stood. "If you're really that determined, go ahead."

'No!' Fay silently wailed. Just being near him sent her heart into a flutter, now she had to touch him?

"Come here." Youko stretched a hand out to her.

'Get a hold of yourself,' she mentally slapped herself. 'You can do this.' She stepped forward, but suddenly stilled.

Her aquamarine eyes turned vacant before she toppled over.

* * *

The sword shattered as it came into contact with his chest, leaving skin unbroken.

'What…just happened?' Yusuke thought in disbelief.

That sword should have sliced through him, but it hadn't. He also knew Hiei hadn't planned it, even he looked surprised. 'Not that I'm not thankful, but what the hell was that?'

Hiei's surprise melted into a smirk. He kicked out at Hakel, who had no choice but to retreat.

The Jagan eye on his forehead had gone from purple to red, while his eyes had turned gold. Fire poured out of his body, the flames dancing about him, as if impatient for a command.

"Let's try this again."

Hakel materialized another sword, using it to counterattack his quick strikes. The blade soon broke and she had to materialize another, then another, until she had no choice but to bring up a barrier in order to keep him away.

'How could he have grown so strong in just a few seconds!' It made no sense to her.

Hiei stopped, starring at the barrier through narrowed eyes. "Is that your strategy now, to hide behind a barrier?"

Even as he spoke, he carried on another conversation in his mind.

'_I never asked for your help.' _

'_You don't have too; I'm doing this for my own peace of mind.' _

'_Hn!' _He would have asked where she was, but her presence soon faded. It didn't matter; he had full control of this power now. As soon as this was finished, he'd find her if those other fools couldn't.

"This is merely a delaying tactic." Hakel answered. "Giving me enough time to do this!"

Four wings sprouted behind her back, the feathers falling from them to encase her. They merged together to become white armor over a white dress, her ears taking on the form of miniature white wings.

The barrier fell. The two came together in blows that began to break up the stone ground beneath them.

"Can anyone follow them?" Kuwabara blinked a couple of times, trying to focus on where they were. All he caught sight of now and then was a white light and a red flame.

"They're up there."

Kuwabara followed the direction of Touya's gaze, but the Ice Master's eyes soon travelled to another part of the arena.

"Am I the only who can't see them?" Kuwabara grumbled.

"No,' Kurama said. "I can't follow them at all anymore."

"And I keep losing them." Yusuke said. His eyes were starting to hurt from trying to keep up with them.

The two combatants reappeared again; Hiei on the left, Hakel on the far right.

The bandages on Hiei's right arm had fallen away, revealing a dragon that had begun turning gold.

Feathers drifted around Hakel, thickening by the second, taking on the form of a large white bird, almost like a swan.

"Dragon of the Eternal Flame!"

"Heavenly Guard!"

The attacks came together in a blinding explosion of power that shook the barrier walls around them, silver cracks running down.

When they were finally able to see, the first person they saw was Hiei.

Yusuke grinned. "Way to go Hiei! One down!"

Then he saw the other one. "How's she still alive after that!"

"Hiei isn't the only one who launched an immense attack. However, take another look." Doing as Kurama suggested, Yusuke first studied Hiei, then Hakel.

Fire no longer surrounded Hiei, and his Jagan eye had closed. He'd also lost his cloak, his shirt, and his pants were torn in several places, but he was still standing straight, a weak aquamarine glow around him.

The armor over Hakel's dress had disappeared, and the dress itself was torn in several places. Her ears had returned to normal, and she looked as if she were forcing herself to stay up.

"I won't let you,' Hakel took a wobbly step forward. "You can't…take her…away. Not,' she took another step, her whole body shaking from the strain, her eyes reflecting pain. "Again." She finally collapsed, loosing counciousness.

The barrier between the four and Hiei came down just as a small glass angel appeared, hovering inches from Hiei.

"Nice job Hiei." Yusuke said as he approached him.

"Hn." Hiei took a hold of the angel and threw it to the ground. It shattered, and as it did, their surroundings rushed away, the foyer replacing them.

"You think she's okay?" Kuwabara knelt beside the fallen girl, checking her pulse. "She's alive."

"That's more than she deserves." Hiei looked down at the aquamarine fish he held in his left hand. Even as he watched, it broke apart, turning to dust. He curled his hand around it.

"She's still a girl, you know." Kuwabara protested. "Did you have to use that golden dragon on her?"

"She would have killed him otherwise." Shishi reasoned.

"Yeah, I know but..." Kuwabara trailed off. At least she wasn't dead.

Hiei picked up his katana, then walked over to the sheath, looking down at it with a disgruntled frown. The sheath had broken into several pieces at some point during the fight. With a scoff, Hiei returned to the group.

"Let's go."

Yusuke nodded, looking at the staircase. "Yeah, Keiko's waiting somewhere up there."

* * *

_Next chapter Preview_

_Looking as if he'd rather do the opposite, Yusuke nodded, stepping back. "Okay, Kuwabara. Just, don't get killed." _

"_Are you sure this is a good idea, Yusuke?" Touya asked. _

"_No." Yusuke admitted. "But what can we do, he's determined to do this." _

_Kuwabara stalked through the barrier, glaring across at his opponent. _

"_Okay punk, come at me." He materialized his spirit sword, bringing it up in preparation. _

"_I don't have to." With a flick of his wrist, Ezekiel hurled a startled Kuwabara into the air. _

_He kept going, higher and higher until he was lost from sight to those on the ground. _


	56. Chapter 56: Kuwabara's Stand

Chapter 55: Kuwabara's Stand

AN: If anyone's wondering why I changed my penname; my yahoo e-mail was hacked.

* * *

The next two levels they ran through were completely empty, their steps echoing in the vastness of the corridor. Once they stepped onto the fourth floor, they knew someone waited there.

The place held a presence, as if someone watched them from the shadows. It gave Kuwabara the creeps, but though he looked, he couldn't pinpoint who it was. Until they ran through an open doorway.

The ceiling of the room was domed, the black ground colored with glowing golden stars. In the middle of the room, on a wooden bench, sat their next opponent.

"I remember you!" Kuwabara shouted. "You're one of the guys who tried to hurt Yukina!"

"My name is Ezekiel." The Malaika replied softly. "And no, I wasn't trying to hurt her; I was trying to get to the Right." Lashes fell over golden orbs.

"Yukina,' he whispered thoughtfully. "She's the gentle one; the one with crimson eyes and green hair."

"What of it?" Hiei's words came out sounding like a demand, as well as a threat.

"I'd like to see her again, she reminded me of Kathleen in her past life."

"Don't get any dumb ideas!" Kuwabara shouted, taking a threatening step forward. "I'll have you know that Yukina happens to be my girlfriend!"

Hiei shot him a glare. 'In your dreams.'

Unknowing of the fire demon's thought, Kuwabara continued. "And there's no way she'd go for someone like you!"

"Her name is Keiko." Yusuke brought up a fist. "And next time you call her Kathleen, I'm going to punch your face in!"

"Don't you dare, Urameshi," Kuwabara pushed Yusuke aside. "This guy's mine."

That brought the stares of all his friends to him.

"You realize he's going to kill you, right?" Hiei asked.

"Leave him to me." Kurama suggested. "You may take on another opponent."

"No way!" Kuwabara pointed at the sitting Malaika. "He just said he was going to try and take Yukina from me!"

"I didn't hear that." Shishi muttered, his words lost under Kuwabara's loud voice.

"I'm going to pound his face in so bad; even kittens won't look at it!"

"All you're going to do is get yourself killed!" Yusuke argued. "Isn't there a little kid with this Faction? Let Kurama take this guy, and you can take the little kid."

"I'm not fighting a dumb kid, Urameshi!" Kuwabara argued back.

Ezekiel's amused chuckle halted their argument.

"He has more of a chance of beating me, than coming close to defeating Suriel." He said, still in that quiet tone of voice that somehow echoed in the domed room.

"You should learn that appearance has nothing to do with power." Ezekiel finally stood, snapping his fingers once.

As before, their surroundings began to collapse around them, leaving them in a different place entirely.

This time, the boys found themselves inside an immense cave. Peeking out from the walls were large glowing light blue crystals, providing light in an otherwise dark place.

"My rules are the same as Hakel's. As for who will face me,' he shrugged nonchalantly. "It is up to you, but decide quickly."

"There's nothing to decide! I'm beating you up!" Kuwabara stomped forward, but Yusuke grabbed his arm.

"Don't be stupid Kuwabara; you're going to get yourself killed."

Kuwabara wrenched his arm from Yusuke's grasp. "I'm going Urameshi. I've always believed you could make it through any fight you're in. So this time, believe I can do it."

"He's dead." Hiei muttered.

"Shut up, shorty! I heard that!" Kuwabara growled.

Looking as if he'd rather do the opposite, Yusuke nodded, stepping back. "Okay, Kuwabara. Just, don't get killed."

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Yusuke?" Touya asked.

"No." Yusuke admitted. "But what can we do, he's determined to do this."

Kuwabara stalked through the barrier, glaring across at his opponent.

"Okay punk, come at me." He materialized his spirit sword, bringing it up in preparation.

"I don't have to." With a flick of his wrist, Ezekiel hurled a startled Kuwabara into the air.

He kept going, higher and higher until he was lost from sight to those on the ground.

He finally came to a stop as his body crashed into the cave's ceiling with so much force, that Kuwabara felt several bones on his body break. His scream echoed down to those on the ground.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted, staring up into the darkness. He looked across at Ezekiel. "If he's hurt, I'm taking your head!"

Without appearing to hear him, Ezekiel kept looking up. Kuwabara soon reappeared, his body slamming with a loud thump deep into the ground, creating a crater around him. But even the ground cracking on impact couldn't mask the sound of the rest of his bones breaking.

"Fool! He should have listened to us!" Hiei brought his hands up and gathered his remaining strength, hurling hurled a fireball at the barrier. Touya sent out a blast of ice, Shishi struck at the barrier with his sword just as Kurama did the same with his whip. Yusuke brought his hand up, forefinger pointed. "Spirit Gun!"

The barrier flashed with every attack but remained in place.

Kuwabara heard his friends' shouts as if from a far distance. He could feel himself grow further and further away, his very life leaving him.

'How…how could he have beaten me so fast? He didn't even touch me!' Was he really that weak? 'Maybe I am just a crutch to my friends.' In his mind, he knew that he'd helped his friends before, but all those memories began to fade even faster than his consciousness.

'Sorry, Urameshi. I guess I was just too weak this time.'

'_No!' _In contrast with the others' shouts, this voice sounded much closer to him.

'_Kuwabara get the hell up right now!_' He felt someone grab his arm, trying to drag him to his feet.

'_Sorry, Fay. I'm just too tired.'_

'_Like I care! You get up this instant! We both know you're not the type to give up that easily! And you're not a crutch to anyone. Just think what Yukina would say if she heard you say something like that. Get up!'_

'_I can't. I won't be a burden to my friends anymore.' _He would have shouted if he could, but even that felt like too much trouble.

The pressure on his arm disappeared, and soon he could see Fay kneeling next to him, her eyes glittering with unshed tears.

"_You're no one's burden Kuwabara,' she sniffed. "And if you die, who am I suppose to admire?'_

_That caught his attention._

'_What?'_

'_You're one of the person's I most admire Kuwabara. You may not be as strong as the others, but no matter how difficult the fight, how impossible the odds, you always manage to find a way to overcome it, because you know your friends need you to do so." _She gripped his arm with both hands._ "I need you to be that guy right now, Kuwabara. So does Yusuke, Keiko, and everyone else. So get up and show this guy why he shouldn't mess with you!"_

When his mind cleared, Kuwabara found himself on his feet, his injuries gone.

Silence had fallen behind him, and Ezekiel looked at him with an unbelieving expression.

"You're…alive?"

Gathering his wits, Kuwabara smirked. "That's right, the great Kuwabara's back! You didn't think something as measly as a fall from a few hundred feet would beat me did you?"

Behind the barrier, Yusuke's eye twitched, his expression nonplussed. "I thought it might."

"So did I." Hiei added, his expression mirroring Yusuke's.

"Then anyone mind telling me how he survived, when a minute ago he was lying in a pool of his own blood?" Shishi demanded, his voice bewildered.

Kuwabara brought his hand forward, calling on his spirit power. The energy blade appeared, before vanishing seconds later.

Kuwabara sweat dropped. He glanced back at someone no one else could see.

"Hey Fay, mind giving me a hand?"

If she'd had a body, Fay would have hit the ground. "_Sheesh, Kuwabara, so much for your dramatic comeback speech."_

"I just need a little help, okay!" Kuwabara said defensively.

Fay smiled. _"Deal."_ She closed her eyes and let her power take over. Even like this, she couldn't really control her power, all she could do was go by feel and hope she didn't mess up.

'_Go get him, Kuwabara.'_

Kuwabara tried again, calling on his spirit energy. This time it responded with unexpected swiftness. And still, Kuwabara could feel his power growing, as if a lock had been opened. It flared out around him, began to gather above him, taking form.

"Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing this?" Yusuke asked, blinking his eyes just to make sure.

Kuwabara's power had gathered above him, taking on the form of a very large orange lion.

Kurama found Kuwabara's newfound strength impressive, however what kept his attention was not that, but what Kuwabara had done moments ago. Not only that, for a second, he had been certain he had caught a glimpse of her.

"Fay!"

His companions turned to him.

"Where?" Hiei demanded.

Kurama set a palm to the barrier. "She's in there, with Kuwabara. I am certain of it."

"Ah, I see what you mean." Yusuke looked back at Kuwabara. "She did that before, remember."

"I recall." Touya said. "It was because of her that I managed to break out of that illusion."

Shishi nodded. "Then that means she's okay."

Kurama's eyes darkened. "Not exactly."

Ezekiel watched as the formed energy quickly flowed into Kuwabara, his aura flaring stronger than before.

"Tricks." He flicked his wrist, but all that managed to do this time was make Kuwabara slide a few inches back.

Kuwabara smirked. "That's not going to work a second time on me!" He threw the spirit sword into the air, where it flipped once and stayed in place.

Kuwabara stretched his arms out. Similar blades appeared, creating a fence between Ezekiel and Kuwabara before they moved, creating a dozen different circles at Kuwabara's sides and back.

Ezekiel tsked. 'You said this would be easy, Azrael.' He hated battle. It reminded him too much of ages past. It brought back memories he'd rather be left on a battlefield that no longer existed.

'Why does he look so happy about this? Does he really enjoy battle so much?' It confused him, and that confusion brought with it pain. He covered his face with a hand. 'I must bring him down, then I can return to my peace.'

He let his hand drop, letting a sphere of light blue energy form in his hand. "If this is what you want, then I have no choice but to oblige you."

Within the sphere of power, grey energy began to take form, sucking up the light and growing larger. It would soon become apparent that it was liquid metal.

The metal took on the same form as Kuwabara's spiritual energy, multiplying in number. Soon he had seven rows of silver blades floating around him, not as many as Kuwabara, but Ezekiel deemed them enough to take the human down.

He took one of the blades and attacked Kuwabara, who mirrored his movements.

* * *

Keiko stared out the window, unable to concentrate on the comic book in her lap.

"What's the matter? I thought you'd like that one." Arel said.

Keiko shook her head. "How can I just sit here and read when my friends could be dying?" She closed her eyes, her hands curling into fists.

Sighing, Arel closed his book and leaned forward, patting Keiko's head comfortingly.

"I already told you, believe in them. They'll get to you, and when they do, you'll see that they're all accounted for."

Keiko nodded, still looking worried. "But Yusuke…"

"Can take care of himself from what I've heard."

"He's always getting into fights." Keiko whispered. "Even before he started working for Koenma, but it was never like this. I'm always worried when he gets into these fights, even though I think he likes it, even enjoys them. But I never thought he would have to get into them because of me."

Arel leaned back on his arm chair. "But he loves you, so what choice does he have, right? What better reason to fight than for the one he loves." He sighted, sounding tired. "Why do you think Azrael is doing this?"

"But I'm not Kathleen!" Keiko insisted.

Arel nodded. "I know."

"So please, help me get out of here! You're my friend too; I don't want you having to end up fighting another of my friends because of me!"

She gave him the same pleading look Arel remembered Kathleen showing whenever she wanted them to stop fighting. It gave him such a sense of déjà vu that he had to look away.

"Arel, please." Keiko pleaded again.

Arel closed his comic book, stood and headed for the door. "Stay put."

Keiko nodded, wondering what he was going to do.

Wondering why he was doing this, Arel headed to Azrael's study room. Without bothering to knock, he entered.

"Hey, Azrael; you decide yet we shouldn't be doing this?"

Azrael looked up from the book he'd been studying. "You want her back as well. She belongs with us. I won't let her be wasted on a mere human boy."

Arel scratched his cheek. "You know what I find funny? I thought you'd mention something along the lines of…oh, I don't know; I love her, so I need her back by my side."

He dodged the energy blast that headed his way, watching as it incinerated the door. "Hey! I was standing there!"

"I know." Arel commented mildly though his eyes glittered dangerously. "I shouldn't have to mention what you just did; I've loved her since the moment I saw her. Nothing will ever change that."

"I thought loving someone meant wanting to see them happy. You know, with a smile on their face."

When Azrael shot him a death glare, Arel held up his hands. "I'm just saying, Keiko isn't happy right now-"

"Her name is Kathleen."

"Yeah…that's not what she's told me."

"Leave."

With a shrug, Arel headed out the doorless doorway. He stopped, glancing over his shoulder. "Let's say you do manage to finish that spell and cast it on her. What makes you think it will work? Especially if she's already chosen?"

He dodged to the side when another blast hit the wall opposite.

'If there really were something like a chill pill, I'd stuff it down Azrael's throat with relish.' He headed back to his room, collapsing onto his armchair and picking up his comic book.

"What happened to your hair? And your clothes? You're covered with ash." Keiko asked at his return.

"Azrael's answer." He said. "He's not going to give up on this, Keiko."

Keiko's shoulders drooped. "I didn't think he would."

Silence descended until a knock on the door had them looking up. Suriel entered, bowing to Keiko. "I apologize for not being here to greet you, Ms. Keiko."

"Please, let me go." Keiko pleaded.

Suriel shook his head. "That I cannot do. Arel, I go take my place. If I should fall, Ashriel will go next. In the unlikely event that he falls, you will have to keep them occupied until Azrael finishes what must be done."

Arel waved him away, looking bored. "Yeah, yeah. I know what I have to do. Go; get maimed, if you're lucky. If you're not…well say hi to everyone when you get home."

Suriel smiled before retreating out of the door.

"They won't kill him, you know." Keiko assured him.

Arel shrugged. "They might. Suriel's talent…let's just say those who face him don't approve of it. It's also why he's never lost, but if your friends manage to block out his talent…they might just consider ending his life."

"It won't come to that." Keiko said firmly. "They won't kill him."

"Hmm…" Arel didn't sound all that convinced.

They lapsed into silence once again, until Arel noticed Keiko looked closed to tears.

"I still have to fight them you know." He told her.

Keiko gave a dishearten nod. "I know."

"But…' Arel scratched his head. "No one said I had to keep them all in place while I fight whoever I'm up against. I could just, you know, let the others go ahead. And I also happen to be really bad about forgetting to lock stuff, except my safe. So if I happen to leave the door unlocked…well, my bad."

Keiko couldn't help smiling. "Thank you."

Arel returned to his book. "What for?" he asked innocently.

Feeling a little more optimistic, Keiko stared out the window.

* * *

"She's not waking up." Youko dropped the last herb he'd tried using to wake the girl up.

"She's breathing, for the moment that will have to do."

Youko stood, the girl in his arms. "You said you were taking her to the abandoned palace a distance from here, why?"

"She thinks that's where she'll find her friends." Raizen said.

"And how exactly did she become separated from them?"

Raizen glanced at Youko from the corner of his eyes. "That's not my story to tell, let's go."

The two demons took off running through the woods until, almost half an hour later, they found their path blocked by a figure.

The two stopped, Raizen half blocking Youko. "You have business with us?"

For a second, he had the sudden urge to cover his nose. Raizen had been around death enough that the smell no longer bothered him; he hardly noticed it at all. However, whoever this was, the smell of rotting flesh was so strong, it was almost overpowering.

The stranger wore a long black veil that covered most of their body. Not even the eyes were exposed, but Raizen knew whoever this was, they weren't human nor demon.

A hand rose, the veil sliding half of it to reveal a pale ghostly outline of a hand within which lay darkened bones.

"I seek that child. Give her to me, and I shall grant you whatever you desire." The voice was female, and every word was accompanied with the clacking of bone.

Youko tightened his grip on the girl. "You think we can be so easily enticed? There is nothing you have that I desire."

Raizen didn't bother speaking, Youko had said all there was to be said.

"Power, fame…" the head turned slightly, as if unseen eyes regarded Raizen behind the veil. "A…lost love perhaps."

Raizen tensed, his gaze narrowing dangerously. "Choose your next words carefully unless you wish to die."

She cackled. "You cannot kill what is already dead." Her other hand rose to her side, revealing more bone within ghostly flesh. "But if you won't give her to me, I will simply take her." Red lights floated from her hand, gliding forward and encircling the two demons.

"And now,' the woman stepped back, the veil at her feet parting just enough to reveal human flesh covering the foot. "We dance."

* * *

Every time he thought he could get through the human's guard, one of the energy swords moved into place to stop him, so that Ezekiel had no other choice but to go on the defensive, putting distance between himself and Kuwabara.

The human's swords acted differently than his. They were more flexible, and it felt as if they knew what to do instinctively. The human was certainly not doing anything that hinted at giving orders.

They had been fighting without pause for the last ten minutes. It should have taken a toll on the human, but he still had energy to spare while Ezekiel was beginning to deplete his.

He grabbed another silver sword from the air, using it to try to get through Kuwabara's guard.

Catching his movements, Kuwabara too grabbed another sword and stopped his attack. "I'm not going down that easily, punk."

Ezekiel scoffed. "You've shown that for the last ten minutes, now fall!"

He surged into an attack then, one so quick, that Kuwabara lost sight of him. All he knew was that a great force kept pounding against the two energy swords he held, then against the swords that protected the rest of him.

They began to break only to be replaced, and yet the unseen force kept attacking, feeling almost desperate to get through his guard.

'Come on; come on, where is he?' Kuwabara tried to catch the Malaika in his sights again, but the most he could see was a dark blue flash of light.

'Dammit! If he'd just stop moving around for a few seconds!' Kuwabara winced as the light finally managed to get through his guard, breaking through skin on his left side.

'Fay, if you're still here, I could use some help!' He didn't get a verbal response, but he felt his energy increase, pouring into his eyes. Then everything slowed down, the flash of dark blue taking on the form of Ezekiel.

'Aha!' Kuwabara side stepped Ezekiel's next strike, gathering all his energy for a final strike.

He swung the sword in a downward arch, striking at the Malaika's back, reversed his grip and brought it up, catching Ezekiel in the stomach and sending him flying high.

"Let's see how you like being treated like a pancake!"

Ezekiel struck the barrier wall and slid down it where he stayed still, eyes closed. He assessed his condition. He had less than thirty percent of his power left, none of his bones were broken, but he was feeling rather bruised.

A part of him demanded that he get up and finish this fight, but that was a small part of him.

Besides, if he did get up, he'd had to listen to that human boy's ranting for who knew how much longer. That actually sent shudders down his back. He snapped his fingers without bothering to get up.

'What's he up to know?' Kuwabara wondered, his hands tightening their grip on his sword.

A snow glove appeared in front of him, floating in place.

'Hold on…I won?'

"For once you did something right."

Kuwabara looked over his shoulder as his friends joined him. "Watch it shorty, with my new powers I could beat you to a pulp."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try." Hiei returned.

"Not now children, get the snow glove, Kuwabara." Yusuke said.

Muttering, Kuwabara let go of his sword and took the snow glove.

"You'd think they'd come up with something a little more creative than this." He said.

The snow glove shattered as it hit the ground. The white snow trapped inside it spilled out in a whirlwind, multiplying until it blanketed everything, then simply disappeared, leaving them back in the domed room.

"I'm not finished with this guy yet! He still has to promise…" Kuwabara trailed off. Ezekiel wasn't where he'd last been. Even the bench he'd been sitting on was gone.

"I guess he didn't want to stick around." Touya said.

"Who cares, let's go!" Yusuke headed across the room where he could see a small door leading out.

"We still have to find Keiko and we don't even know how many more from this faction we have to face."

"Well I'm not fighting anymore!" Kuwabara ran after Yusuke, trying to ignore the ache in his bones. Right now, he felt like he could sleep for a week. "Someone else can take the next guy!"

"I'll do it." Shishi said coming up on his left. "I'm tired of standing back and watching the rest of you almost botch it."

"Hey!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Care to repeat that?" Hiei asked, his tone threatening.

"Kurama?" Touya stopped, glancing back when he noticed the red head hadn't followed.

"Her presence is gone." Kurama whispered disheartened.

"I'm sure by the time we meet up with the rest of the group, she'll be with them." Touya tried to reassure him. "She's helped both Hiei and Kuwabara. They would have known if something had happened to her." At least he hoped they would.

Kurama nodded. "Yes, of course."

"Hurry up you two!" Shishi called back to them.

The two ran to catch up with their friends.

* * *

"I never thought to see you run from a fight." Suriel stopped next to Ezekiel, who lay on the wooden bench, arm over his eyes.

"Even if you did prefer not to be involved in it."

"I'm tired, you go deal with them." Ezekiel muttered without bothering to look at the boy.

"I had less than half my power, that boy still had quite a large amount of energy left."

Suriel shrugged. "It was temporary. Had you stayed around for a few more minutes, that power would have vanished."

Ezekiel sighted, turning over on his right, his back to Suriel. "I don't care. I gave Azrael as much time as I could give him. If you think you can hold out longer than I could, go take care of them yourself."

"After ages of searching we finally found her. And now you want to give up so easily?"

Ezekiel didn't answer.

With a shake of his head Suriel stepped past him. "Very well, I will do what must be done then."

'What's the point of it when she's already chosen?' Though he hadn't shown himself to Kathleen…no, Keiko, he'd been watching her. She kept asking them to let her go, kept saying that her friends, Yusuke in particular, would come for her. 'For your sake, I hope that spell works, Azrael.'

* * *

"Okay, Kuwabara. Which way?" The boys halted as the hallway split into four different directions.

"Hold on." Kuwabara peered one way, then another. He looked to the fourth hallway before nodding. "Yeah, it's that way."

They weren't quite sure what they were expecting once they'd found the room their next opponent inhabited, but what they met with wasn't it.

"Are you expecting us to discuss this over tea?" Shishi asked incredulous.

They were in a yellow tea room, the young boy sitting at one of the two tables sipping tea.

"Don't try acting innocent because I remember you!" Yusuke snapped at the boy. "Now tell me where Keiko is or I'll start breaking bones!"

"I never said I was trying to act innocent." Suriel set down his tea cup, his eyes rising to meet Yusuke's.

"And neither will I say I was acting under orders." He stood, pushing back his chair. "I did what I did because I wanted too. I will not apologize for it."

Before Yusuke could move, Shishi stepped forward. "I don't particularly like fighting little kids, but I'll make an exception with you."

"Is this wise?" Kurama asked. "Remember what Ezekiel said."

Shishi scoffed. "I'm not Kuwabara."

"Hey!"

"I can handle myself, whatever this kid may decide to do."

Suriel smiled, his soft violet eyes going icy. "Simply because I appear as a child, does not mean I am one." Suriel picked up his teaspoon and clinked it against his cup.

The tinkling sound carried more than it should have and as the sound grew, their surroundings melted into something else completely.

They now found themselves in a small island in the middle of an aquamarine ocean.

"I thought it would suit." Suriel stepped forward, taking off the grey gloves he wore.

Shishi drew his sword, preparing for an attack.

"I'm ready when you are."

Suriel shook his head. "I am not as uncouth as some of your friends. I will not rush you like a fool eager for battle."

"You wanna say that again!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted from behind the barrier.

"You expect me to just stand here and talk about it?" Shishi asked skeptically.

"No, the time for talk is past." Suriel lifted his right hand, but instead of pointing at Shishi, he pointed to his side.

"I have never been defeated for the simple fact that I have a…certain power that gives me an advantage over people. One that makes them think it over, then back down."

Shishi's hold on his sword tightened. "I doubt that'll work with me."

Suriel tilted his head, smiling. "We shall see."

Olive brown hair began to fade into hazel and spill down his back; he grew a few inches while the shape of his eyes tilted up a little, the color changing to aquamarine.

When the transformation was complete, it appeared as if Fay had switched places with him.

Kurama's eyes widened in surprise and he a stepped forward.

"It's not her." Hiei told him. "It can't be."

"You cheater!" Kuwabara shouted. "Taking on a girl's form!"

Shishi smirked. "If you think changing your appearance is going to stop me from killing you, think again."

"You don't seem to understand." Even Suriel's voice had changed into Fay's.

"This ability does not simply let me take on another's form. It lets me capture a soul and draw it into my body, linking myself and that being together." Suriel smiled. "And Ms. Fay was so worried over your fate, that her soul was near enough for me to capture her."

"You liar!" Yusuke shouted, gritting his teeth.

"I am not lying." Suriel stared intently at Shishi. "It also means that if you kill me, you kill her."

Shishi hesitated. He didn't have anything against Fay; actually he liked her, in an annoying bratty kid kind of way. She reminded him of Yusuke; she was just as impulsive, if not more. Of course there were a lot of differences, such as she couldn't fight her way out of a box if her life depended on it. But by now he knew she cared about her friends, all of her friends, including him. Gritting his teeth, he glared angrily at Suriel.

"How am I supposed to know that you aren't lying?"

Suriel shrugged. "There's only one way,' his eyes narrowed, a smirk curving his lips. "But are you willing to take that chance?"

* * *

AN: Till later. R&R


	57. Chapter 57: Wildfire

_**Chapter 56: Wildfire**_

"He has to be lying!" Yusuke shouted. "Fay would never make a face like that!"

Suriel shook his head. "Simply because I have her soul does not mean I have her personality."

Yusuke fisted his hands. 'This is so stupid! Fay, why did you have to wondering off without your body?'

"Can you sense anything Kuwabara?" Kurama asked. "You must be able to tell."

"I...I…" Kuwabara blinked his eyes, trying to concentrate. "I'm trying but-"

"He's telling the truth." Hiei closed his Jagan eye. Keeping it open at his current power level was becoming difficult.

'Great,' Shishi thought sarcastically. 'So now what do I do?'

"Your safest move would be to give up." Suriel assured him.

"No." Shishi answered, lifting his sword a little more.

"Think carefully, Shishi." Touya called to him. "I know you can't back down, but neither can we kill her."

"I know that already." Shishi growled more to himself than the others.

"Giving up is your only choice." Suriel explained calmly. "Leave this place and I will release her soul."

Shishi scoffed. "In your dreams." And that's when it came to him. "I'm not the type to back down from a fight, but you can anytime you want too."

"Hold on, don't do anything stupid!" Kuwabara shouted.

'You're one to talk.' Shishi thought. "Unlike you, I think before I act." He smirked at Suriel. "No one ever said I had to kill you, I'm just going to knock you out. Once I do that, your hold on Fay's soul should break."

'Good idea.' Touya thought. Of course that would mean having to make Fay suffer a little, but he thought she could take it; she'd taken worse after all.

"He has no other choice." Touya said out loud.

Kurama nodded reluctantly. "I know."

Suriel chuckled. "That's clever of you. But I did forget to mention one small detail; I can control her powers."

"That's impossible." Shishi argued. "Fay can't control hers; she can only give it to someone else." And most of the time that only happened when they were in danger.

"I have Fay's soul, I am not Fay." Suriel reminded him. He lashed out with his right hand. "Let me show you!"

He hurled a sphere of aquamarine energy at Shishi, who dodged to his left only for the sphere to explode, sending him flying. He braced his feet against the barrier and jumped down, aiming for Suriel.

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!"

The long dead spirits charged the small figure, but all Suriel did was look at the ghouls and a rush of energy destroyed them.

"You will have to come up with something far more powerful than that." Suriel raised a hand to point at Shishi and began firing energy orbs.

The orbs exploded on contact, leaving Shishi no option but to keep dodging them. One of them almost came in contact with his foot. He threw himself out of the way at the last second, but the heat from it burned his foot, making him stumble.

He caught himself on his right hand and back flipped as another orb came at him. The attack passed him by, detonating as it hit the barrier, sending him tumbling through the air.

'Lucky me, I get to experience Fay's attack power first hand.' He thought sarcastically. Before Shishi could face his opponent, energy burned through his kimono to skin and he was slammed against the barrier.

"Fay, stop it!" Yusuke shouted. "You're stronger than that idiot! Don't let him use you!"

"Please,' Suriel scoffed. "My technique is a lot more refined than you give it credit for."

Shishi braced himself on his arms, trying to push himself away from the barrier wall, but his back was still burning and he was being kept in place by Suriel.

"So much power." they all heard the awed trembling in Suriel's voice.

Suriel let go of Shishi, but before he could move, Suriel's foot connected against his back, threatening to break it. And still the burning continued, becoming even more intense so that Shishi couldn't help the cry of pain that escaped his lips.

Suriel finally moved away, aquamarine eyes staring at hands that were becoming engulfed in flames of the same color.

"So this is her power, its incredible! There's so much of it; I could do anything I wished and no one would be able to stop me!"

"Is anyone else getting freaked out by him using Fay's voice to speak in that power crazy laugh?" Yusuke asked, his tone disturbed.

"I am." Kuwabara said.

"Yusuke, Kurama,' the two looked to Hiei when he called their attention. "Remember what Fay said when Kuwabara's sister asked about her power?"

Yusuke frowned in confusion. "Err…she said..."

"I do." Kurama answered, gaze pensive. "Fay told Shizuru that she had been created to hold that power without it becoming a problem for her."

Hiei nodded. "So what happens when that's suddenly transferred to a body that isn't meant to hold it?"

It was a rhetorical question; one everyone knew the answer too.

'Oh hell.' Yusuke thought. 'This is not good.'

"I wouldn't start making any plans if I were you." Shishi warned Suriel as he forced himself to his feet. "Because I'm going to stop you right here!"

Suriel sneered. "Please." He didn't even have to move; power simply rushed out of him like flames, attacking Shishi from all sides. It wrapped around him like a cocoon, then began to squeeze like a snake.

Suriel laughed loudly. "Yes, kill him! You will be my first victim! Once I'm done, all will bow down to me!"

Power flared out from him, making the barrier begin to expand outward like a balloon.

'There's so much of it!' Suriel couldn't help the maniacal laughter that spilled out. "I will gain all I wish with this power! The entire dimensional scope shall be mine!"

Nothing else seemed to matter anymore, nothing but his using this never ending power to conquer all that he could reach!

"So much power! So much-" His eyes grew large, his mouth opening as aquamarine flames spilled from it. He clutched at his throat, trying to stop the burning.

Suriel's hold on Fay's power wavered enough that Shishi could slice his way free, gasping to take in air. His free hand rose to wipe the sweat from his forehead before looking over at his opponent.

Suriel collapsed to his knees, his eyes beginning to glow and spill out flames.

"Stop it!" he screamed through the burning. "There's too much of it!"

"Fay!" Kurama slammed a fist against the barrier.

"Calm down Kurama." Touya advised. "It's Suriel who's being hurt, not Fay."

"But Fay is currently connected to Suriel. What he feels she feels as well." Kurama reminded him.

"Out of the way." Yusuke stepped back bringing his forefinger up to point at the barrier. "It looks weak enough; I think my spirit gun can get through it." The barrier was already bowing under the pressure.

Before Yusuke could fire his spirit gun, the barrier shattered; spilling out the flames it had been holding back.

Touya raised an ice barrier around them, but even that began to show quick signs of wear.

'You imbecile.' Shishi thought, bracing himself against the onslaught of power. 'Even Kuwabara could have told you this was a stupid idea.'

"Let Fay go!" he shouted.

"I…I can't!" Suriel managed to force the words out. "I have tried, but I can't." His words faded into another scream of agony.

'So now I'm supposed to find a way to fix all this?' This was supposed to have been a fight, simple as that, but this idiot had to drag Fay into it.

'There has to be a way to stop this before we all end up turned into cinders.' Still unsure of what he could do, Shishi took a step forward through the blistering flames, then another, trying to make his way to the screaming boy…or girl, he wasn't even sure what to call Suriel now.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" A wave of power poured out of Suriel again, accompanied by his screams. Shishi moved to the left, stopped when he realized the flames were to strong there. He looked to his right, then left.

'I'm caged in!'

He brought his arms up to cover his face and braced himself for impact. Except, the flames never reached him.

'What?' He cautiously peered out, his eyes widening when he saw the barrier that had formed around him. 'The bead.' He'd been meaning to give it back to Fay at some point but had forgotten.

He reached into his pocket, taking out the small glowing bead. It didn't look as if keeping the flames away was taking a strain on it, it was the opposite. 'This is hers; I suppose it must have absorbed her power overtime.' Which gave him an idea.

Suriel screamed again, sounding eerily like Fay.

'Here goes.' He took the bead and rammed it into the mouth of the sword. The ghoul's mouth closed, the eyes beginning to glow. He brought up the sword before him. "Call of Imprisoned Souls!"

Nothing happened, except that power continued to pour out of Suriel to the point that the boy no longer paused between screams.

'Damn it! So much for that idea.' Now he'd have to come up with something else. As he thought this, the ghoul's mouth opened again, but instead of anything bursting from it, it began to suck in the flames, as if it were a drain and the flames the water.

'Nice thinking, Shishi.' Touya thought. 'This way there's a possibility that you may be able to separate Fay's soul from Suriel.' If it worked, so far all the sword was doing was sucking in Fay's power.

Shishi hung on, trying to ignore the burning in his palms. It wasn't that this power was hot in the sense of flames; it was more than it was so icy, it was burning him. 'Come on, come on!'

Finally, a burst of light separated itself from Suriel, but instead of moving towards Shishi, it simply vanished into thin air.

Suriel collapsed, his features returning to normal, his screams finally silenced.

Breathing harshly, Shishi fell to his knees, letting go of the sword.

"You okay, Shishi?" His four companions ran up to him, Yusuke offering him a hand up.

"Do I look okay?" He grumbled. He took the offered hand and stood, looking across at Suriel. "What should we do with him?"

"That should be obvious." Hiei was already making his way to the downed boy. "His stupidity could have killed us all, not to mention Fay. I say we return the favor."

The tea cup Suriel had been drinking from descended from above, shattering before anyone could touch it.

The water around them burst up, like curtains, then splashed down, leaving them back in the tea room.

"Hold on Hiei,' Yusuke said. "That might not be the best idea. I mean we're all alive."

"Yeah, and I'm sure Fay is too." Kuwabara put in.

"But she may very well have been highly injured from all this." Kurama said, his tone cold, his face in shadow.

A burst of lighting gave Hiei no choice but to jump back to avoid it.

"Sorry, but I can't let you do that." The Malaika stepped out of the lightning bolt. Mismatched eyes looked out at them before they turned their attention to the boy on the floor.

"Suriel isn't usually stupid, but I guess everyone has their moment." He crouched down, picking up the boy and slinging him over his shoulder.

'It's him!' Kuwabara glared at the man. 'He's the one that stabbed me with that poison knife!' If he hadn't felt so tired, he'd be charging the guy right now.

"Ashriel, if I remember correctly." Kurama said.

Ashriel tilted his head in a nod. "Correct. And since your friend there,' he gestured at Shishi with his chin. "Saved Suriel, I'll give you some information. Counting me, you have two more to fight before you get to Azrael. But by that time the one you call 'Keiko' may not recognize that name any longer."

"If you touch one hair on her head, I swear I'll kill you all!" Yusuke shouted. He would have stalked over to the man, but he was helping Shishi hold himself up.

Ashriel shook his head. "We won't hurt her. Just...remind her of who she is."

With that he disappeared in another bolt of lightning.

* * *

The red lights became ghostly creatures with too long talons and heads that were made up mostly of elongated overgrown yaws. The eyes were three small pinpoints of lights at the very back of the small heads.

Before the creatures even had a chance to attack, Raizen blasted them into dust before rushing the strange female. He grabbed her by the neck, cracking the fragile bone hidden under the black veil. The body fell to the ground. Raizen stepped on the head, shattering it, before a blast of his power finished off the rest of the body.

'Seems all she could do was talk.' Youko thought.

"Let's go." Raizen moved to lead the way but before he took more than a few steps, he stopped, turning back to watch the leaf covered ground quake, then rise.

Around them red lights bubbled up from the ground, shaping themselves into the creatures Raizen had disposed of seconds ago.

"You are formidable." The leaves slid away, turning into clumps of black dirt, leaving the woman standing in their place. "But that will help you little if you cannot find a way to truly destroy me."

The creatures hissed as they circled the three, while others clung to tree trunks and branches, their large yaws open, their tongues writhing as they tasted the air.

"I'll take care of these creatures,' Raizen told Youko. "You make sure no one touches the girl."

Youko gave a nod. "Agreed."

* * *

He'd killed the demons not long ago, once he'd caught wind of this scent. Now Kuronue landed downwind of the battle, watching Raizen easily take out a large numbers of the creatures, only for three more to take the place of the one defeated.

'Now what to do?' If it had only been Raizen, Kuronue could have directly helped, but according to what the witch had told them, now that Youko was there, he couldn't do so.

Once Nina had gathered them, at the behest of the witch, she'd told them the rules of time travel.

"_Here are the rules: The further away from your past self you are, the better. The closer you are, the more you'll find that your memories and feelings will leak into them. Or your past self's memories and feelings will begin to leak into you. Theirs leaking into yours won't really matter, yours leaking into them…it will make a difference, hopefully not a very big one if you're far enough away. However, if you're unfortunate enough to come across yourself, if you were around back then, and between then and now you haven't really changed all that much; no it won't create a time space rift, however the universe will take matter into its own hands and make one of you, the weaker one, disappear, because only one of you can exist in any time unless you're twins or you have a clone. So good luck with that."_

"_Two: Try not to accidently kill one of your ancestors because I am not cleaning up your mess. Three: I heard one of you was supposed to be 'dead' back then."_

She'd turned to him then.

"_You are not to show yourself to anyone who knew you and believed you were dead, because that may very well change the decisions and life of that person, and you might really end up dead. Four,' _the witch had held up four fingers, her gaze roaming the group._ "Do not tell anyone that you're from the future, because they'll either believe you, or think you're crazy, and that may bring more problems." _That hadn't actually sounded like a rule but more of a suggestion.

The leaves rustled as a figure passed overhead, heading straight for the battle. Kuronue watched as Jin landed heavily on one of the creatures.

"Sorry I'm late, had a bit of trouble on the way."

Neither Raizen nor Youko asked who he was; they were busy keeping the creatures at bay.

Coming to a decision, Kuronue made his way closer to the battle; using the power he'd gained from Fay to mask his scent. He kept to the shadows, using his scythe to bring down the creatures further from the group.

* * *

"We really have gotten stronger." Rinku caught his yoyo, smirking as he looked around at their handy work. The two had caught a group of demons talking about mounting an assault against Raizen to take away a human girl. There was only one human girl who Rinku and Chu knew any demon would go through all this trouble to get; Fay.

"Bunch of bludgers." Chu took a chug of the bottle he'd taken from one of the demons he'd beat up and joined Rinku. "Okay then, where too now?"

Rink shot him a look. "You're lucky I'm here, on your own, you'd be completely lost." He pointed. "According to one of the demons, Raizen and Fay were heading that way."

Chu rubbed his chin as he looked over in that direction. "Isn't that where we just came from?"

"Huh?" Rinku studied the direction, finally catching sight of the palace roof in the distance. "They're heading back the way we came." He started running. "Come on, we have to go!"

One the way they met up with Suzuka. "I met a group of demons who-"

"Oh, don't worry about it,' Rinku grinned. "Chu and I already took care of the rest."

"Good to know." The trio hurried onward, only stopping when creatures began to crawl from the trees to attack them.

"I can see Jin from here." Suzuka said. He could also see Youko, though he doubted it was the one they knew. He used his rainbow cyclone on the creatures and when that proved insufficient, used his diamond strike.

"Get back guys, I'll take care of them." Rinku let both his yoyos drop, letting them swing back and forth. "Let's see you get out of this; Yoyo Pendulum."

The creatures snarled, running at them only to be struck by the giant yoyos that swung down, while a second took out several others.

"Come on now, you're taking all the fun." Chu finished the contents of his bottle and threw it at one of the creatures the pendulum had missed. It struck the middle eye shattering it ion the process, as if it were glass. The creature shrieked wildly before it melted into the ground.

"Did you see that?" Suzuka said.

"I'm kind of busy right now." Rinku said. He hadn't had to use this attack after he'd used it the first time, so he hadn't realized but…it took a lot of energy to keep it going.

"The rest of the creatures just burst into sparks,' Suzuka explained. "This one melted, and it hasn't multiplied." He materialized a diamond knife and aimed. The knife struck another creature in the third eye. It melted as the first did.

Rinku staggered back, ending his attack. "I've cleared a path, let's go!"

Chu grabbed Rinku, hoisting him up on his shoulder as they ran to join the others.

"Aim for the middle eye!" Suzuka informed the others as they reached them. "That way we won't have to deal with more taking their place."

"And exactly who are all of you?" Youko asked.

"Uhh…well…" Rinku shrugged.

"We're Fay's friends." Jin responded.

"You can talk about it later." Raizen interrupted. "After we've killed them all."

"Then we better go fer that one." Chu glanced in the hooded woman's direction.

A scythe lashed down from above, striking the woman's head. There was a loud crack as the headp fell off, veil and all, but the woman continued standing, her ghostly appearance unharmed.

'That scythe.' Youko narrowed his eyes, starring up in the direction the scythe had come from. He could almost make out a figure there, but the next second it was gone, and he had to return his attention to keeping Fay from the grabbing talons of the creatures.

"She has to have a weakness." Suzuka took aim at another creature, felling it.

"Aye, but finding it is a bit of problem right now." Jin said. Now that he knew the creatures' weakness, he could use the wind to strike at them like knives, even as he concentrated on keeping Windros in hand.

"Get out of the way." Raizen raced past, aiming blow after blow at the creatures' weak points. They crumbled in droves before him, and then he had the woman by the neck again, though this time he controlled his urge to smash her.

The woman cackled. "You think to find my weakness this way?"

Raizen narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening.

"Mortina, you have disobeyed orders." A man stepped out of the shadows. Unlike Mortina, they could see his upper torso and the flesh that still clung to it. Half his face was gone, while the other remained, a ghostly outline over bone. It was his legs and arms that were covered by a black veil.

"It was a wondrous opportunity brother, how could I pass it up?" Mortina replied.

The creatures had ceased their attack, backing away from the group as the man came forward.

"Lilith has decreed that it is not yet time; return before she misses you."

Scoffing, the woman disappeared from Raizen's grip, her creatures fading away.

"And who're you supposed to be?" Chu asked.

"My name is Morteus. A Lord of Death, and member of the Fears Faction." He gave them a mocking bow. "And I know all about The Right's warriors. Sadly, I can't stay and chat. My Mistress awaits my return, and you…' he chuckled. "You have other problems to deal with." He stepped back into the shadows, just as with an involuntary yelp of surprise, Youko let go of Fay's body.

* * *

Without so much as a look in their direction, Madeline cut down the demon with a quick spell. 'Stupid trash.' She kicked at one of them, sneering. 'Did any of you really think you could set a hand on me?'

She'd been getting visits from these beasts a little over an hour after they had left. They'd all been weak and easily disposable, but she just hated them clogging up her space, not to mention the smell that was beginning to waft up from them. 'Next thing I know, it'll bring in more of their kind, probably the scavengers.'

It wasn't fair; she shouldn't be dealing with these lower life forms. 'No, think positive: you are helping your fellow men. That girl's human so of course I have to help, witches have always been around to help humans.' She still needed to do something about the trash.

One more stroke and she finished fixing her pentagram. Madeline stood, muttering words under her breath quickly. She raised a hand towards a pile of bodies on the last word.

A red pentagram drew itself into existence before her hand and shot out a burst of fire that disintegrated the bodies, leaving behind only black dust. She turned her attention to the rest of them, decimating them quickly.

* * *

Fay's body flared like the sun, it was the only way to explain it. She hovered in place, aquamarine power blazing out around her.

"What is she?" Youko could almost swear he knew, but that was impossible, and at the moment took second seat to his need to try to stop whatever was happening.

"Why's she unconscious in the first place?" Chu asked.

"She collapsed some time ago." Raizen explained. "Why, were not exactly sure."

"Maybe she's doing what she did last time." Rinku suggested.

Jin, Chu, and Suzuka nodded, quickly explaining to Raizen and Youko.

"Last time this didn't happen,' Jin said. "Least not that Yusuke or the others told us."

"Something must've gone wrong." Suzuka muttered grimly.

"But what?" Rinku asked.

Youko slowly approached, reaching out. A flare of the aquamarine fire licked his skin and he retracted his hand.

"I can't get close to her." he licked his fingers, thinking. "We have to find a way to stop this, before it attracts unwanted attention."

"We've already gotten rid of most of that attention." Suzuka said. "But you're right; we don't need any more of it." The problem was how exactly they were to stop it.

"Maybe your friend up there has an idea." Youko glanced up into the trees. The others followed his gaze.

"Sorry,' Chu said. " Our mate up there's a bit…uh…shy."

"Which doesn't bring us any closer to fixing this." Raizen reminded them.

The flare suddenly extinguished and Fay's body dropped.

Raizen caught her before she hit the ground. With the way the power radiating from her had looked, he'd expected heat, but what he felt was an immense cold radiating from her body.

"How is she?" Rinku rushed forward with the others, kneeling when Raizen set Fay on the ground.

"Cold." Raizen answered, flexing his arms to bring feeling back into them.

"I'm thinking humans aren't supposed to be this cold." Jin quickly snatched away his hand, blowing on it to warm it up.

"Looks like it's time to build another fire." Chu straightened looking around them. 'Plenty of wood, this shouldn't take long.'

* * *

Accompanied by a bolt of thunder, Ashriel appeared in Arel's room, Suriel slung over his shoulder.

"Got beat, I see." Arel commented without looking away from his comic book.

"As hard to believe as it is." Ashriel replied, setting Suriel in the bed.

"But he's okay, right?" Worried, Keiko hurried over to the bed, her hand reaching out to touch Suriel's cheek.

Ashriel grabbed her arm before she could touch him. "Don't. You're human; the cold he's radiating right now may very likely freeze your hand entirely."

Looking startled, Keiko nodded, retracting her hand when Ashriel let her go.

"Why is he like that?" she asked.

"He made a stupid mistake."

At Ashriel's words, Arel finally lowered his comic book. "Really?" he asked, tone intrigued. "Suriel made a mistake?"

Ashriel explained what Suriel had done.

Arel whistled. "That sounds really painful. You would think he'd know his limits."

"That can't be right,' Keiko said. "Fay would never hurt someone like this."

As they talked, Ashriel had been looking through Arel's closet, taking out blankets and stacking them.

Keiko hurried to help, picking one up and taking it to the bed. "Won't these freeze too?" she asked.

"Not these, they belong to Arel."

"Oh…' It was clear she didn't understand.

"My element is fire, to a much higher extend than many others can wield." Arel explained. "And I like heat, so most of my things are resistant to most elements, especially fire, while my blankets are spelled to radiate heat."

He hated all but summer weather, and most of the time spent it where it was hottest, but since this war had started he'd been dragged to cold weather, which he usually spent under piles of blankets, reading comic books and drinking hot chocolate. He'd be under a kotatsu right now, but he didn't want to look like a kid to Keiko.

"Oh, I see." Keiko replied.

"As for Ms. Fay doing this to him,' Ashriel grabbed the stack of blankets, dropping them on the bed while he unfolded one and covered Suriel. "She did do it to him…indirectly I suppose. His body is not a vessel for that power; it's only natural that it would overwhelm him."

"What about Fay?" Keiko asked. "Is she okay?"

Ashriel paused in unfolding a fourth blanket. "For your sake, I hope so." He draped the blanket over the sleeping boy.

"If Suriel can pull through, I'm sure your friend will too." Arel added, returning to his comic book. "Besides even if she doesn't, it's no big deal. She's The Right. All it means is that the war will come to an end until she's reborn again."

Keiko whirled to glare at him. "How can you say that! Fay isn't some thing, she's a person with thoughts and feelings too. Dying would be painful to her, and even if she is reborn...that might just bring more pain for her." She couldn't imagine loosing everyone and having to start again, worrying over who's after her, if her friends would get killed because of her.

Arel ruffled her hair, smiling ruefully. "Sorry, sometimes my mouth runs faster than my brain. You're right, and I'm sure she'll be fine, so don't look so sad."

Keiko managed a small smile and a nod.

"I have to go." Finished piling the blankets over Suriel, Ashriel headed out the door. "Arel,' he called back.

Arel waved him away. "I know, I know. Just in case, be ready."

Ashriel gave a nod before the door closed behind him.

Arel sighted. "This is really going to eat into my reading time." He set the comic book down and walked over to check on Suriel. He looked a little blue around the edges, he could see the puffs of air every time the younger Malaika breathed, and even though Arel wasn't touching him, he could feel the cold radiating from him. Shivering, Arel blew heat into his hands and placed them over Suriel.

On his left, Keiko watched. Despite acting as if wasn't important, she could tell Arel really was worried about Suriel. "They'll both pull through. You'll see."

Arel glanced down at her, a half smile stretching over his lips. "Let's hope you're right."

* * *

The walls of the hallway gave way to clear sky as the boys headed through a large opening. They now found themselves walking on a wooden bridge leading to a large veranda overlooking a lake down below.

They found Ashriel there, leaning against the wooden railing.

Yusuke clenched his fists. This was beginning to get on his nerves. It didn't matter how many stairs they climbed, they didn't seem to be getting closer to Keiko, and this guys were always there, trying to stop them. 'Damn it! That bastard could already have cast that stupid spell on Keiko and we're still stuck here!'

He took a step forward but Kurama blocked his path. "I will deal with him, Yusuke. Remember that you must be the one to face Azrael."

After a moment he nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Now that that's decided." Ashriel snapped his fingers. The wood beneath them gave way but instead of falling, the space was filled up with grass. Above them, the clear night sky became dark with lightning filled clouds. Fog rose up at their feet, and the sound of water came from their left.

Ashriel stepped to the right, Kurama to the left, both circling each other as the barrier rose, separating them from the others.

'Don't play your games this time, Kurama.' Hiei thought. 'We don't have time for them.'

"I'm sure by now you know the rules." Ashriel said.

"Yes." Kurama replied.

"Then let's skip the pleasantries."


	58. Chapter 58: Divided Paths

**_Chapter 57: Divided paths_**

"It will not take long brother; the trap has already been set."

Morteus paused as Mortina continued to pester him. "And if it fails?" he asked.

"Then I will return without giving complaint."

Morteus thought it over. If they could manage to capture The Right now, Lilith would be pleased. She may have other plans, but this would speed them up. What remained of his face lifted into a half smile. "Do so quickly."

* * *

'This one's cautious.' Ashriel silently observed Kurama who, like him, had made no move yet.

'So he's waiting on me.' Not that attacking would reveal to his opponent anything he didn't already know. Ashriel slowly lifted his right arm, palm open. Golden light crackled between his fingers, becoming a sphere of lightning.

"I suppose this is what you've waited for." Ashriel hurled the sphere at Kurama who dodged to his left, his rosewhip flashing out to strike Ashriel, but by then Ashriel had already moved, throwing another lightning sphere at Kurama.

The two kept avoiding each other's attacks, until Ashriel lifted a hand to the skies. The lightning flashed down, Ashriel graving onto it and slamming it forward to meet Kurama's rosewhip. Both whips tangled, but Kurama's disintegrated into ash.

The lightning stretched, grazing Kurama's wrist and hand.

Wincing, Kurama retreated, quickly assessing the damage to his hand. It hurt but he could block that out, he could still move it even if its reaction was slower.

"Kurama above you!" Hiei warned.

Kurama dodged to his left just as lightning struck the place he'd stood in. He looked up, watching the dark clouds light up with lightning.

'Of course.' Kurama had known from the first that Ashriel had chosen this battle field because it gave him the advantage. The sky was filled with lightning, lightning that could strike him at any moment.

Kurama kept moving as he quickly thought, having to both dodge the attacks from above and Ashriel's separate attack.

"Better think quickly,' Ashriel mocked. "Who knows when you'll run out of time."

"He's not fighting seriously." Touya stated.

"Who, Kurama or that fool Malaika?" Hiei scowled.

"You serious?" Yusuke stared at the battle. "They both look pretty serious to me."

"Ashriel is playing with Kurama,' Touya explained. "With so much of his element to call, he could have brought Kurama down with a strong enough bolt. Kurama…it's hard to say what he's doing."

"Well whatever he's doing, he better speed it up." Yusuke gritted out. "He knows that we're on a time limit."

Just then a massive bolt of lightning hit the ground, missing Kurama only because he'd moved quickly enough, even with that it still looked as if some of the attack had reached him.

'I wasn't talking about Ashriel.' Yusuke thought.

"Come on Kurama, you can beat this guy!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Your friend sounds impatient." Ashriel commented.

"It is in his nature, as I' m sure you've noticed." Kurama replied evenly, trying to get his body to respond to him.

The lightning was doing something else to him. His left foot was not obeying his commands as quickly, what's more his right hand had gone numb, it would not obey at all.

'If this continues, I will not be able to defeat him.' He could use the grass, but Ashriel had wings. His left hand dug into the soil beneath him. 'That leaves me with only one option.'

He ripped out several blades of grass and threw them at Ashriel, using his energy to turn them into deadly blades.

Lightning arched, dusting the blades before they even came close to Ashriel. Too late, Ashriel realized it had been a distraction. The grass at his feet spiked up, wounding his right arm, leg and cutting at his cheek. He disappeared in a bolt of lightning, reappearing Behind Kurama.

"I suppose I had that coming." Ashriel smiled grimly, clutching his wounded arm and putting most of his weight on his left.

Kurama quickly turned. "Now neither of us can use our right arm." He'd made sure the blade would sever nerves.

"I suggest you stop trying to buy Azrael time. Whatever his plan is, no matter how long he has, it will not succeed."

Ashriel let out a bark of laughter. He'd begun thinking that himself. "Yes, that may be a possibility but in this, Azrael will not give. He has sought her out for ages. To him, she is everything."

"But not to you,' Kurama stated. "So why, why follow him on this fool's errand?"

Ashriel shrugged, wiping at the blood that threatened to flow into his eye. "Truth be told I didn't even like her. Not that I wished for her death. She was too sweet, too compliant,' he scoffed, mismatched eyes lighting with dislike. "Too much like a doormat. Every time I saw her it reminded me of my mo-" He pursed his lips, realizing that his emotions had begun to leak into his voice.

"Maybe that's why I'm doing this,' he continued once more, his voice calm and a little amused. " To make up for not being able to take a liking to her." he gave a humorless chuckle. "Of course, there is the fact that Azrael saved my life. Had he not come along when he did, I would have been wrongfully executed. For that alone I owe him my allegiance."

"I keep telling you, you have the wrong girl!" Yusuke shouted. "Keiko is definitely not a doormat! Have you even met her?"

"She has her soul,' Ashriel replied evenly. "That is enough for Azrael." And he actually liked, well a little, this reincarnation of Kathleen.

"Is that enough information?" Ashriel mocked. "Or shall I continue spilling my guts?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes. 'So he's known.' It was true, he had been trying to gain information from Ashriel, however he'd also been waiting.

"So now you know why,' Ashriel raised his left arm. "I have to stop playing now."

The clouds above thundered, turning practically gold with the energy they harbored.

'Whatever you're waiting for, I hope it happens soon Kurama.' Hiei thought. 'You're about to run out of time.'

A mass of gold electricity thundered down. Although Kurama did his best to avoid it, it sparked onto his left foot, dropping him to the ground as the leg went completely numb.

"You're very good at dodging my attacks, but I doubt you'll be able to escape once I flood this place with lightning." Ashriel's eyes had actually begun to match, mirroring the lightning spilling from his left hand. "Goodbye."

The skies above opened, pouring not rain, but torrents of lightning.

Kurama braced himself, his left hand on the ground. 'Now!'

An ice blue barrier rose to protect him as lightning filled the enclosed battle field. At the same time, thick vines exploded from underneath, circling Ashriel. With them came a gush of cold water that drenched Ashriel. He screamed as water and lightning mixed, the power he'd once controlled attacking him with angry ferocity.

Ashriel's wings burst out from behind, enclosing the Malaika within before they disappeared along with the Malaika in a burst of crimson lightning.

"Everyone, remind me never to piss off Kurama." Yusuke said a little unnerved.

"Yeah, me too." Kuwabara muttered.

The lightning inside the barrier dispersed, leaving the ground blackened. The only grass growing now was inside the small ice blue barrier flickering around Kurama.

Yusuke grinned. "Way to go Kurama! One more and we're there!"

'It...worked.' Kurama had expected the barrier to shield him from the worst but not to last this long.

"You look surprised." Touya approached him along with the others.

"Yes, I suppose I am." Kurama stood as the barrier faded around him.

"Surprised at what?" Yusuke asked. "Didn't you think the water would work?" He may not be a genius but he did know that lightning and water didn't mix.

"No, I had no doubts the water would work." Kurama answered. "However, I expected to have taken more damage."

"Hn!" Hiei scoffed. "If Fay decided to interfere with the rest of us, do you honestly think she'd let you be?"

Kurama smiled. "True."

"Hey, then that means she's okay, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"I guess so." Yusuke muttered.

Touya remained silent, deciding to let them think what they wanted, but he could already tell Kurama had guessed at it. They'd just been swamped by Fay's power not long ago; it was possible that the charm had taken in energy just as Shishi's bead had done.

A small horse figurine flickered into existence, hovering near Kurama who took it, throwing it to the ground where it fell into pieces.

Their former surroundings rushed back into place. The group turned to the next set of stairs.

"One more." Yusuke said. 'Hold on Keiko, we're almost there.'

* * *

Arel stood up, grabbed Keiko's hand and retreated. Lightning flashed just before Ashriel crashed into the space they'd vacated, feathers drifting around the room as they revealed the battered and smoking angel.

Keiko gave a cry of dismay, her eyes wide. "What happened to him?" She would have rushed to his side but Arel stopped her.

"One of your friends, and don't get close to him, he's unstable."

Taking a closer look, Keiko realized that miniature lightning bolts still sparked off him now and them.

"Yusuke wouldn't do this."

Arel cautiously approached Ashriel, muttering a spell under his breath. When it took effect, he grabbed Ashriel's arm and slung it over his shoulder dragging him over to his bed. While he did this, he thought over the group he'd known had entered the palace. "It was the red head." He finally concluded.

"Red head? Oh, you mean Kurama?" Keiko shook her head, about to deny it, until she recalled the Dark Tournament. "I…I guess it could have been him."

She watched Arel stretch Ashriel on his bed then go over to a shelf where various glimmering bottles rested. He took one, returned to Ashriel and dumped the contents down the injured Malaika's throat.

'A little embarrassing don't you think Ashriel.' Arel thought. 'You got beat even faster than the others.' He was so glad he wouldn't have to face the fox.

When he was done seeing to Ashriel, Arel took a deep breath and turned to Keiko. "I guess my turn's up."

"Please,' Keiko pleaded earnestly. "You don't have to do this. Just take me to Yusuke and they'll leave you alone."

Arel shook his head. "I can't do that, we've been through this before." He took her hand and shook it. "In case I don't make it, it was nice meeting you Keiko."

He left then, ignoring Keiko's pleas to not go. He closed the door behind him and headed down the hallway. 'Okay Arel, now that we're stuck acting the 'bad guy', which really sucks, let's think of a nice way to fight without ending up half dead like everyone else.'

* * *

Keiko stood in the middle of the large room, looking from the two figures on the bed to the door. 'I never wanted this to happen, especially because of me.' Now Arel would get hurt when he shouldn't. 'He's been so nice to me.' They all had, even if they hadn't let her go.

'I have to stop them somehow.' She ran to the door, confident it would be unlocked. It silently opened as she twisted the knob and Keiko ran out, looking down one corridor then the other.

She didn't know which way to go. She was about to head down the right when she felt a tug at her wrist and looked down. The bracelet was glowing, tugging her to the left. She ran, hoping she could get there in time.

* * *

"While we're grateful that you've looked after Fay up to this point," Suzuka said, facing both Raizen and Youko. "We can take it from here."

He held out his hands for the small form Raizen had once more picked up.

"No." Both Raizen and Youko answered.

"Weren't you trying to get her to us?" Suzuka asked. They had to convince these two to leave, before things became more complicated.

"I never leave things half done. I told her that I'd get her to the castle." Raizen said. "And until I've accomplished that I'm not going anywhere."

"I agreed to that condition as well." Youko added.

"Aye, but we'll be heading there just as soon as Fay wakes up, so I'd say it's pretty much the same thing." Jin said.

"I disagree." Raizen rebutted. "You can either follow or not, but until I get her there I'm not leaving." He started walking away then, Youko following after a brief glance into the trees.

"I don't think Raizen coming along is a bad thing,' Rinku whispered. "But isn't Youko coming a problem?"

"And that's what we're trying to avoid." Chu remembered what Madeline had said. They didn't need both meeting each other. 'Not to mention what the little witch might do to the lot of us.'

"You could help me think of something." Suzuka glared at them. "And keep your voices down; remember that both have exceptional hearing."

Of course, this could have all been avoided if that witch hadn't messed up in the first place.

The three on the ground hurried to catch up while in the trees Kuronue moved.

It was because of his vantage point that he finally managed to make out the odd marking half hidden by dead leaves on the ground.

Before he could shout a warning, the markings began to glow an eerie red, then everything was consumed by a blast that hurled Kuronue away against his will.

On the ground, Raizen held on tightly to the unconscious girl in his arms while his surroundings were consumed by deep red. He heard the shouts of the others but they soon faded away.

When he could see once more, he found himself in a field surrounded by trees. He glanced to his left. "If your plan was to separate her from us, it's failed."

Shrubs rustled, withering as Mortina grasped at a branch, sucking its life away in anger. "You will not always be with her." With that she was gone, leaving Raizen alone with the sleeping girl.

'Looks like we're on our own once more.' This time he couldn't make out the castle they'd been heading for. Neither could he sense Youko or her companions.

However he had been here before and he knew which way to head.

* * *

'Of course they would try separating us.' Suzuka thought annoyed. 'But couldn't I have landed in a better place?' He gripped the thick branch above him and began to swing, hoping it wouldn't break and plunge him down into the ravine beneath him. On his fourth swing he let the branch go as he flipped upwards and landed on it.

"That you Suzuka?"

Rinku's voice startled him, his right foot slipped, his hands wind milling to try to keep him balanced. It failed, and he found himself plunging down.

Rinku quickly used his yoyo, twining it around Suzuka's foot. "You really should work on your landings." He called down as he worked to pull Suzuka up.

"That wasn't my fault." Suzuka glared up at him. "It was you showing up at the wrong time."

He grabbed the branch again, pulling himself up onto it.

"Anyone else land near us?" he asked.

"Nope, just us." Rinku jumped to the ground, then Suzuka followed.

"And I have no idea where we are."

Suzuka studied their surroundings. "Neither do I." He pulled the compass from his pocket. "But of course, I'm always ready for anything."

"That's great, but can your compass tell us where we're supposed to be heading?" Rinku asked. He didn't know if they should head north or south.

"Of course it can." Suzuka replied smugly. He fetched the small blue green fish from his pocket and stuck it into the small compartment. Immediately the needle began to move. "I may not be able to tell exactly where the castle is, but I can lead us back to Fay. Hopefully the others will be with her."

Following the compass, they headed west.

* * *

"You okay there mate?" Chu asked Jin.

"Aye. Considering it could have been worse." Jin had landed in a lake; Chu had landed in a pigsty, face down, startling all the pigs and probably the humans inside.

"I'm thinking you'd better jump into the lake too,' Jin wrinkled his nose. "Ye're smelling worse than usual and I doubt you'd be wanting to scare off the girls with it."

He wavered on his feet as the wind fought to escape his grip. 'Isis could have given us a few pointers on controlling them.' Windros was almost constantly trying to escape his grip.

"You may be right mate." Chu walked past him, jumping into the lake and splashing water all over Jin.

"Ye could be a little careful!" he protested, to which Chu laughed.

"Now then, which way do you think the sheila is in now?" Chu asked, still in the water.

"That's what I'd be wanting to know." The wind pushed at him. He skipped a few feet until he regained his balance. "Right then, I think I have an idea." He was worried about Fay. While he could remember Raizen holding her, it was possible in the explosion he could have let go. Exactly what their enemy was probably after. 'I'll not be letting them take her.'

"Ready when you are, Jin." Chu said, patting him on the shoulder with a wet hand.

Ignoring it, Jin nodded. "Right, let's go then."

* * *

He had landed closest to their destination. Youko looked up at the castle not far from him. His being here was pointless without her. Rustling caught his attention. For a few seconds he stared at the dark figure hurrying to conceal himself within the trees, then started after him.

When he thought he would catch up, the shadow would slip further away. Youko narrowed his eyes. He could swear he knew this person, not because he had the same smell that Fay had, but because of his movements. But…it was impossible.

"Wait!" He landed on the ground, watching as the figure hesitantly paused, most of him hidden behind rustling branches.

"Kuronue?" He hadn't meant to speak the name but it had slipped from his lips before he could stop it.

The figure stiffened.

"It is you."

"No." The reply was delivered in a voice lower than what Kuronue's had been. "I am not the Kuronue you knew."

Part of him seemed to understand that, while the rest of him felt something he usually did not; confusion.

"And if you valued your friendship with him, you will drop this. And if you value your life, you will get away from here. Fay's not here, help me find her."

From anyone else, Youko would have taken it the words as a demand and a threat to retaliate against, but from this person he took it as a request and warning.

The shadow moved and he followed. It was not as if he'd planned to do anything other than find the strange human girl. Something inside him demanded that he find and safeguard her.

* * *

"Someone,' she groaned. "Get the freakin number on that truck!" Fay struggled to open her eyes, then to sit up, only to realize someone was carrying her.

She blinked, meeting violet eyes looking down at her.

"It's about time you woke up."

Fay groaned. "Please don't tell me I've been out for a week or I swear I'm going to start copying an ostrich."

"You've been sleeping for a little over an hour." Raizen responded. "In which you missed another of those faction's attempt to kidnap you."

Lucky her. "I don't suppose a herd of elephants stomped over me during that time?"

"If it had you wouldn't be alive. I think what you're feeling are the after effects of your power spilling out of you." He helped her sit up, watching as she frowned in thought.

"That's weird; it's never made me feel like this before." Her body was aching, as if she were about to get sick and this was her body's way of letting her know. 'Well, it could always be worse.'

It was then that she realized it was only the two of them there.

"Wait, where's Youko?" Fay asked looking up at him over her shoulder. "Did he leave?" She should feel relieved but she wasn't.

On the heels of that thought was the realization that she was sitting on Raizen's lap. "Oops, sorry." She scrambled to get off him, trying to ignore her body, but he stopped her.

"Don't. I doubt you could stand in your condition."

She could damn well try! Deciding it was better to give in, for now, Fay returned to her last question. "Where's Youko?"

Raizen began to explain.

* * *

They only had to walk down one long corridor before they hit another room. On the other side they could see a large staircase leading up while to their left was a large window, telling them that they were almost to the top floor.

"Okay, whoever you are! Come out here and get ready to get your ass kicked!" Yusuke shouted.

His voice echoed out around them but no one showed up.

"Maybe it's the next floor?" Kuwabara wondered.

"No." Hiei said. "Whoever he is, he's here."

They followed the direction of his gaze. There was a very large vase, almost as tall as Kuwabara and much wider, in the corner of the room. In it were large fern fronds along with dozens of flowers, some of which swayed, except that there was no wind.

A blond red head peeked out from behind it, followed by the rest of him down to the shoulders.

"Err…whatsup." Arel waved, a hesitant smile on his face.


	59. Chapter 59: Countdown

Chapter 58: Commencing Countdown

"Let me guess,' Hiei sneered. "You're the weakling of this faction."

The stranger bristled. "I am not." He huffed, cheeks puffing out. "I just hate having to fight in these types of situations." He pouted.

The group sweat dropped.

"Then get out of our way and you won't have too." Shishi said.

He sighted. "See, that's where we hit a snag." Arel tentatively stepped out from behind the vase, as if testing if it were safe.

"I would, but the thing is; Azrael would skin me alive. And man I hate those sermons of his." He rubbed his neck as he walked out to the middle of the room.

Thanks to Azrael having dirtied his favorite clothes, he was dressed more simply. Black shirt, loose black pants with stripes of red and gold down both sides, and Nike black/red shoes.

"I'm like, dude get a life and a new girlfriend, he's like,' he lowered his voice, trying to mimic Azrael. "Would you like to repeat yourself?" Arel snorted.

"And then he goes and drags me into stuff like this. I mean, I know he's been waiting for her like for a thousand years plus, but seriously, stalker much?"

Yusuke's eye twitched. 'Is he on their side or ours?' He was beginning to remind him a little of Jin. Not that he looked or sounded like him, and although they acted differently…neither had felt like an enemy once they'd started talking.

"Okay…so why not just let us go?" Kuwabara asked.

Arel shrugged. "Well…as much as I hate to admit it, Azrael's kinda like my adopted father. He picked me up when I was runt and raised me up to be,' he pointed at himself with both hands. "This cool, though I did have to disobey him a couple times for that. Anyway," He dug at the polished marble floor with his foot. "That's why I can't, you know, not fight. I at least have to give it a go or he'll take my collection of awesome comic books away. And that is not cool."

'_Can I shut him up now?'_ Hiei sent to Kurama.

Kurama glanced over at him_. 'Are you sure you're up to it? I can still feel you struggling with that elemental.' _

Hiei reached for his katana. '_It'll be worth it. He's starting to make Kuwabara look smart.'_

"Oh, and by the way,' Arel pointed at Hiei, more precisely at the hand grasping the katana. "The only one that gets a crack at me is whoever's fighting. So unless you wanna try fighting me in your condition, which by the way isn't going to work, I don't think trying to hit me is the best idea."

Hiei narrowed his eyes, as if thinking it over.

"Oh, and in case you guys didn't know, my name's Arel. Don't bother with your names, I already know them. Keiko described you guys pretty well."

Yusuke stiffened. "Where is she? How is she? If you hurt her-"

Arel waved Yusuke's threat aside. "Like I'd hurt her. You still don't get that we want her safe and happy. Sure, Azrael thinks that's best done while she's with us but I don't think she likes the idea. Anyway,' he thought, tapping his chin. He'd forgotten that he had left the door unlocked, not because he'd promised…but because he'd just forgotten. So she should be out of the room and Azrael would soon be pissed off. He was so glad he had a genuine excuse.

"I'm not sure where she is right now." He pointed past him at the staircase. "Somewhere on the next floor trying to find you, is my guess."

"Then we should get started." Touya stepped forward, an icy wind whipping around him. "I will be your opponent."

Arel leaned far back. "Fine, but could you warm up a little. You're really cold. I don't like cold."

Couldn't they have fought this out somewhere warm? Like Hawaii for instance.

"Sorry, but right now that's not possible." Touya answered.

Arel sighted. 'Figures I'd get stuck fighting the one Popsicle they had.'

"Fine, fine. Let's get started." He crossed his arms and waited, when they didn't get the clue, he started tapping his foot impatiently.

"What, did you forget your theme music?" Yusuke groused. He may not feel like an enemy but he was starting to get on his nerves.

"Theme music…" Arel mused. That didn't sound like such a bad idea.

"What exactly is it that you are waiting for?" Kurama asked.

"Ah, right." Arel supposed he was going to have to spell it out for them. "Look, I don't like fighting; what's more, I don't like fighting in front of an audience. That way, in case I mess up and loose I don't have to live with the fact that I lost…in front of people, and that I probably didn't look my best. So,' he took a few steps to the side, tilting his head towards the staircase.

"Scat, shoo, go on, get lost. Take your pick, I've got more."

Startled, the group stared at the staircase then Arel.

"You're,' Yusuke hesitated. "Letting us go?"

Arel rolled his eyes. "I'm definitely not asking you to waltz."

"And how do we know this isn't a trap?" Hiei asked skeptically.

Arel sighted dramatically. "Yes, Hiei. It's a trap, oh darn, you figured it out. Truth is, I set several dozen explosives on the stairs to go off the moment you start sauntering up them." He drawled sarcastically.

Kurama chuckled, to Hiei's growing irritation.

"I believe we can trust him." Kurama said. "Had he truly set a trap, he would be acting nicer."

"Kurama's right,' Yusuke headed across the room to the stairs. "Keiko's waiting for us, and I'm not about to stand around discussing if it's a trap or not." He disappeared up the stairs.

"Wait up, Urameshi!" Kuwabara followed after along with Kurama and Shishi.

"Be careful Touya." Kurama cautioned as he passed.

Touya nodded. He knew better than to underestimate based on looks.

"Hn!" Hiei followed. "At least it'll get me away from your stupidity."

"Nice meeting you too, Hiei!" Arel called up the stairs. He didn't get a reply, but he wasn't expecting one.

"Anyway,' Arel snapped both fingers. "Back to business." Their surroundings crumbled, quickly replaced by walls made of rough black stone.

Touya studied them. "This is…a volcano."

Arel shrugged. "It's more like we're under a volcano, but yeah, dig a little deeper and lava will pour out." This place not only gave him the advantage, it was also nice and cozy to his way of thinking.

"Now,' he recalled Touya's attention with a wave of his hand. "I have a proposal for you."

Touya watched him suspiciously. "What kind of proposal?"

Arel rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see. I hate fighting, as I've said before. So my proposal is, let's say we did and don't."

"You want to throw the fight?" Touya asked cautiously.

"Nope, can't do that." Arel replied. "I mean we just stay inside the battle field reading comic books, you know, hanging. While everyone else finishes up with whatever's going to happen. Then I bring us back and no one's the wiser."

Touya shook his head. "No. My friends will be waiting for me. They've all done their part to get us this far, if I do as you say I would not only let them down, I would consider myself a coward."

Arel's shoulders sagged and he let out a long disappointed sigh. "I thought you might say something like that." Which sucked, it really, really sucked.

"Okay then, I guess we'll have to fight,' he straightened, his demeanor becoming serious. "But just to let you know; there is no way you can beat me with your current level of power."

Touya took on a fighting stance. "Then I guess I'll have to prove you wrong."

Arel shrugged. "I warned yah." He spread both arms at his sides then tilted his hands up in a gesture.

A wall of fire and lava erupted behind him, climbing high and shaking the ground.

As Touya watched, more erupted to surround them both. Even with the elemental inside of him, he was starting to sweat from the heat. Eyes wary, he watched Arel carefully.

The angel gave him a friendly smile before stepping back, right into the wall of lava and fire.

Arel reappeared above him, except he was now made out of fire, his wings dripping lava, his eyes ruby red.

"I'll make this as painless as possible." Arel rushed down at him and Touya brought his palm up in preparation.

"Shards of Winter!"

* * *

The whole palace shook with Azrael's anger. He had finally finished the spell and gone to find Kathleen. Except, the door to the room had been ajar and she had been nowhere in sight.

He hurried down the right corridor, becoming a flurry of white feathers that whooshed past doors and around corners, seeking Kathleen.

The castle had a large solar which he headed to last, but instead of finding her, he found the pursuers.

He solidified just as Yusuke stepped inside, glaring dangerously across at him.

"Where's Keiko?" Yusuke demanded.

"Good question,' Azrael returned coldly. "She is not where she was, and I cannot locate her." At least she was not with this group. "Do not worry, once I have finished with you, I will find her."

"The hell you will!" Yusuke shouted, hands fisted. "I don't care what spells you throw at me, I'm kicking your ass! And then I'll find Keiko!"

"I do not need spells to bring you down, mortal." Azrael sneered. "I will fight you your own way, simply to prove it to you."

"You just gave me another reason to wipe the floor with you!" Yusuke shouted, his energy roiling around him. "I just met you, and I'm already sick and tired of the way you talk!"

As Yusuke charged, feathers whirled around them, bleeding the color out of everything and creating a barrier in between the two combatants and the group of four.

"Hey, isn't this one of those level one battle fields?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yes, it seems he truly means business if he did not bother to go higher." Kurama said.

"Or maybe he's just being overconfident." Hiei said. "This is probably his way of telling us that he'll finish this quickly."

"That is a possibility." Kurama admitted. Yusuke would prove that assumption wrong.

"The nerve of that guy." Kuwabara grumbled before shouting. "Beat his face in, Urameshi!"

* * *

Raizen sped through the moonlit forest, carrying the silent girl on his back. Once he'd told her what had happened, she'd insisted they go look for her friends. He'd refused. His job was to get her to the castle, besides; he knew her friends could take care of themselves.

"You should stop worrying about them." He said.

"I can't help it." Fay responded. "I get them into one big mess after another." True, this time they weren't out rescuing her, but she'd still caused it, even if it was indirectly.

"I doubt they mind, so worry about yourself instead."

Fay frowned. "Why would I do that, I mean I'm with you, so I think I'm the safest right now."

Raizen hesitated in his stride. "...that's exactly what I mean."

"What?" Fay asked. She hadn't heard him over the wind rushing past her ears.

Instead of answering, Raizen sped up. For some reason it felt as if they were running out of time.

* * *

Jin tumbled out of the air, his body so weak he couldn't manage to catch himself.

"Jin!" Chu rushed forward, catching the red head before he hit the ground. "I think that's enough flying for you, mate."

Jin forced his eyes open. "I can't…be giving up now. We have to find Fay."

"The sheila'll be fine. Raizen's with her." True, that might not be the case but she was resourceful enough. ""If yah keep going, all you'll manage is to keel over. That'll just make her worry."

"I..." Jin's eyes rolled into the back his head as he collapsed. The wind stirred up around him before calming down.

'What I'm wondering's what that sheila was thinking giving you the elemental.' Slinging Jin over his shoulder, Chu started walking. 'You weren't ready for it, mate.'

He wasn't sure where he was going, so it came as a surprise to him when he found the witch talking to Youko.

She glanced over her shoulder as they neared. "Oh, look. The cavalry has arrived. But there's no one here to save." Her hands went to her hips. "Where's Fay?"

"I've already told you what happened." Youko said.

Madeline muttered something unintelligible under her breath. 'Must I do everything myself?'

She was about to start on her spell when Chu set Jin on the ground. "I'll just leave Jin here and go look for her."

Madeline shook her head. "No, stay here. As it is we're almost out of time."

"What do you mean?" Youko demanded softly.

Madeline bristled at his tone but decided against starting an argument. "This spell,' she gestured at the runes on the ground. "It has a time limit. A limit that will expire in a little under two hours. After that we'll have to wait till the new moon, which won't happen for a while. And we cannot stay in this land that long."

Not only could she not handle living in a place like this for so long, it would also mess with the balance she'd set for this time. Hell, they might end up getting back to their time…only thirty years in that future.

"You might have told us that before, sheila." Chu chided.

"What, and have all of you worrying over it instead of doing your jobs?" Madeline shook her head. "Not likely."

"Are you saying…that you plan to take Fay away from here?" Youko demanded softly.

Madeline's eye twitched. She hated when people used that tone of voice with her, and so far only two people had done it. That thought gave her pause. She faced Youko, her eyes narrowed, studying him intently. 'Curse it!'

It wasn't two people; it was the same guy, just with different appearance. No wonder he was talking about Fay the way he was, the other one's emotions were probably leaking into this one. "Chu…" She glared at him. "Why was I not informed of this!"

Chu shrugged. "Didn't think it'd be a problem sheila. Not when yah look at the odds."

"If I'm the topic of your conversation, I suggest you start explaining yourselves to me." Youko demanded.

Yet another reason why she didn't like demons. "We can't." Madeline said. "You may not understand…' Or maybe he just might, which posed another whole set of problems. "But we're treading on dangerous ground. As for Fay: Yes, we're taking her with us. She doesn't belong here and what's more,' she stared at him in the eye, her gaze firm. "She doesn't belong with you." It wasn't just Youko she was talking about.

Madeline expected some outburst from him but it never came. He stood there, looking a little too calm for her peace of mind. "I have never lost anything I did not wish to lose. And what I have coveted, I steal and hold."

He took off then, disappearing into the woods.

"You can't steal her!" Madeline shouted after him. "She belongs somewhere safe!" Away from demons like you, she added silently.

'Think you might have just made things rougher for us, little witch.' Chu thought. He watched the witch mutter to herself, kneel next to some glowing signs, and begin chanting again.

* * *

Touya staggered away from the lava, fighting to keep his eyes open and following Arel's quick movements.

'This is impossible. I'm almost out of energy and he has all of his.' Touya had tried hitting Arel with every attack he knew. The Elemental inside him wasn't making it any easier. He'd lost control of him once already. It had caused the ground beneath him to break apart because of the clash of different elements.

Touya couldn't help but question what Isis had been attempting to do by giving them the Elementals when they were obviously unready for them.

"Ready to give it a rest?" Arel asked.

"No." Touya blinked away the sweat rolling into his eyes, watching Arel's movements. The fiery angel shrugged, splashing into the lava beneath. Touya took a step to his right, his movements sluggish.

The broken ground a few feet in front of him shuddered then flew into the air as lava spewed upwards. Touya released more of the Elemental's power to keep him cool before suddenly whirling to his left. "Winter Spikes!" The spikes sprung up the second Arel rushed up.

He hissed, grasping at his right arm. "Would you watch it!" he growled down at Touya. "I'm going to need that arm later." Dark red lava poured from the arm, but the wound didn't prove to be more than a scratch. Arel quickly healed and splashed back into the fiery liquid.

'He's…he's toying with me.' Using that attack had caused Touya more energy than he had. The buckling of his legs beneath him proved it. He wouldn't be able to stay awake for much longer. He staggered to his feet, ready to use his life energy if needed.

The walls of fire flared up around him, Arel appearing above. He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Frankly, I think that Magus girl was overestimating you. You already look exhausted. Wait till you no longer have the Elemental supporting you."

"Before that happens I will beat you." Touya said determinedly.

Arel waved it away. "You can't. I'm sure you know why, but there's another reason besides that." He pointed a fiery finger at Touya. "You're trying to dominate your element, not work with it. The Magus you call Isis, she can control so many elements because she knows how to synchronize with them to an almost perfect level."

'Synchronize?' Touya thought. He searched his memory, going over the conversation they'd had with Isis before she'd handed them the Elementals. 'Now that I think about it...she told us to try working with them.' He had thought he'd been doing just that, but perhaps he hadn't. He staggered forward, feeling exhaustion overcoming him.

The ground beneath him crumbled as he fell, but instead of falling into the lava, he hit cool ground as Arel dropped the battle field.

Arel knelt beside the unconscious fighter, poking at his shoulder. 'You're lucky I'm not one of the others. They would have taken you down without a single thought.' But it just didn't seem right to him to kill someone in these types of situations, not to mention that it would make Keiko cry.

Arel hoisted Touya onto his shoulder, looking up at the ceiling as it trembled, followed by Yusuke's muffled shouting.

Arel's eyes narrowed. 'That better be a victory shout, Yusuke.'

* * *

The two combatants came together in a flurry of blows, neither trying to block, instead concentrating on doing as much injury to the other as possible.

Azrael's height gave him little advantage. Yusuke was used to fighting opponents taller than him; he adjusted well to it, most of his blows hitting their target.

Azrael's longer reach allowed his punches to their target as well, making Yusuke stagger back a time or two. Azrael was no weakling, even without his magic, however...he wasn't used to fighting this way.

He had never truly had to fight this way and although he knew how to do so, as old as he was, he didn't have Yusuke's firsthand experience. He found himself struggling to keep up with the younger fighter, having to block once or twice. Then Yusuke broke through his guard, sending Azrael flying back to smash against the barrier.

"Serves you right!" Kuwabara shouted gleefully. "Go, Yusuke! You can beat this guy!"

"Ha!" Hiei said. "Azrael should have stuck to what he knew best. It's obvious he's no hand to hand fighter. He's probably used to using magic and fighting with a sword."

"Don't underestimate him." Kurama cautioned. "It's true he's not as advanced as Yusuke, but he's determined. And we don't know if he will truly hold to fighting this way and not use his magic."

"But that's cheating!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"Like he'd care." Hiei muttered. "But let's remember that the detective's also determined. I've never seen him loose a fight he was determined to win."

'True.' Kurama thought. And this time, Keiko was involved. 'No, he won't lose.'

Back inside the barrier, Azrael had climbed to his feet and rushed Yusuke, using all his speed. Unfortunately Yusuke matched that as well. Azrael managed to block the first two punches, but the third, an uppercut to his stomach, sent him flying again, blood spewing from his mouth.

"You know, I'm starting to feel sorry for you." Yusuke said, walking towards Azrael. "So I'll tell you what, return Keiko and I'll let you live." He pointed his index finger at Azrael. "Otherwise, I'll kill you if I have too."

Azrael scoffed, getting to his feet. "Don't make me laugh little boy."

"Spirit Gun!"

Azrael used a barrier to block the attack, moving out of the way before it shattered. He ignored Kuwabara's shout of 'cheater', disappearing in a flurry of feathers, appearing across the room from Yusuke.

Yusuke turned to face him, determination in his eyes. "I'm not holding back anymore! So you better get ready to die!"

Azrael raised his right arm forward, his palm glowing with silver energy. "I will strike you with all the power I have. You will either do the same or, as you have said, die."

Yusuke smirked, raising his finger. "Sounds like fun. Looser stays down."

* * *

'I've been here before.' Keiko struggled to open the locked door to no avail. The bracelet kept tugging her down that way so she knew there had to be a corridor there, but it was locked. She'd tried finding another way in but that proven fruitless.

'Come on open up!' Keiko pulled at the door knob once more, putting all her strength into it. 'Open now!' She felt warmth spread down from her right arm and suddenly she stumbled back as the door flew open.

She caught herself, looking at the glowing bracelet. 'Wow, so this does work.' She'd thank Fay later for letting her borrow it; right now she had to find Yusuke.

The corridor led her to an open doorway and the solar beyond it where the battle was taking place. 'Yusuke!' As if through a darkened mirror, she could see Yusuke and Azrael, ready to launch their energy at each other.

'No! I don't want anyone killed because of me!' Keiko wrapped her left hand around her right wrist, over the bracelet. "Please, please help me reach Yusuke."

She plunged forward, through the barrier and into the battle. "Yusuke stop!" she shouted coming to a halt in the middle of the room.

Except, it was too late. Both combatants had launched their attacks...attacks that were coming right at her from both sides. She screamed, covering her head with both hands.

"Keiko!" Yusuke shouted at the same time Azrael shouted her name.

"Noo!" Yusuke ran forward, attempting to outrun his own energy, but it proved useless. He could do nothing but watch as both his and Azrael's energy collided, Keiko caught in between.

The blast sent both combatants flying in opposite directions, the barrier around them cracking at the release of energy.

Behind the barrier, Kuwabara, Hiei, Shishi and Kurama could only watch in wide eyed dismay. "How…how did she get through the barrier,' Kurama said in disbelief. "It should have been impossible for her!"

No one had an answer; they were too stunned at what had just happened.

Yusuke scrambled to his feet, his gaze going to the smoking crater that now occupied the space where Keiko had once stood. Eyes wide in disbelief. he crumbled to his knees, unaware that tears ran down his cheeks. 'Keiko...she's... gone.' He screamed in denial.

* * *

AN: *Goes off to finish next chapter* Hopefully, I'll have it out by the end of next week or a little sooner.

Reviews would be appreciated from those reading my story.

Special thanks for those already reviewing.


	60. Chapter 60: Time's Up

Chapter 59: Time's Up

"You guys are okay!" Fay waved to Suzuka and Rinku as they came into view.

"Well of course we are." Suzuka replied. "We can take care of ourselves."

"We were more worried over if you were okay or not." Rinku added. "Whenever we're not looking you tend to fall on your face."

Fay's eye twitched in irritation. "I do not! Besides,' she pointed to herself with a free hand. "As you can see I'm fine."

"Yeah,' Rinku smirked. "Thanks to Raizen."

Before Fay could come up with a retort, Raizen interrupted. "If you three are done, I suggest,' he paused, looking past Suzuka and Rinku. "I suggest you get ready for a fight."

Suzuka and Rinku whirled around, tensing to attack but when they saw who was there they relaxed, or at least Rinku did.

"It's just Youko, why would we want to fight him?"

"I'm here for Fay." Youko said.

'Oh...that's why.' Rinku thought.

Raizen smirked. "I thought you might try this sooner or later, but are you sure what you're doing is right."

"Whether it's right or not doesn't matter to me." Youko replied calmly.

"Hold on,' Fay interrupted. "What are you guys talking about? There's no reason to fight Youko, and isn't he here to help bring me back to the others?"

"You should learn to read those around you better, Fay." Raizen said. "Then you would know that Youko's reason for being here has nothing to do with helping us."

'I read people just fine.' Fay grumbled silently. She just didn't understand the conversation.

"Youko's here to take you with him." Suzuka explained, keeping an eye on him. "In order to keep you here."

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Raizen asked.

Fay slowly shook her head, trying to think it over. "No...it's not." Personally, she thought Youko kinda disliked her.

"You love me."

Youko's words made Fay blush, her face coloring. "I…wait…what…what makes you…" Her mouth tangled itself over words and she looked away.

"I don't know whether what I feel is such an emotion, but I want you to stay with me." Youko raised an arm, a red rose gleaming in front of his face. "And I will do what I must to see it happen."

Raizen let her down, his body tensing to attack.

'Oh no, this is really bad.' Rinku thought. They couldn't fight Kurama. What if they accidently did something that could affect the future?

He glanced at Suzuka to find he had the same grim expression on his face.

"You're not going to actually fight him…are you Raizen?" Fay grabbed onto Raizen's arm, looking up at him with pleading eyes. It wasn't supposed to work like this, she didn't want to be liked this way by anyone other than Kurama.

"Do you have a better idea?" Raizen asked.

Fay hesitated.

"I didn't think so."

A black blur emerged from one of the trees above them, landing between Youko and the others.

"I can't let you do that." Kuronue brandished his weapon, the scythe glittering as it caught the moon's reflection.

"So you finally showed yourself, Kuronue." Youko said softly.

'You're not supposed to do that!' Rinku and Suzuka thought, glaring covertly at the bat demon.

"Idiot!" a small branch hit Kuronue on the head, surprising the demons gathered there into looking at the thrower.

"What was that for?" Kuronue demanded, still finding it hard to believe that Fay had actually hit him…or thrown something at him that wasn't herself.

"You were specifically ordered to stay out of sight! Do you have any idea how hard it was to rescue you?"

"I do, I was there." He answered.

"Then why are you wasting those efforts!" Fay pointed at the darkest tree in their vicinity. "Get back in that tree and make like an owl at daytime!"

"It's a little late for that, Fay." Suzuka said dryly.

Fay's expression changed to one of panic. "Does that mean we have to rescue him again?" That's not what she minded; it was Kuronue going through that type of pain again that she minded.

She glared at Kuronue. "If you need counseling after attempt two, I'm charging you double."

"As long as it's from you, I-" In one swift movement, Kuronue moved, avoiding the rosewhip by inches.

"Stop it!" Fay demanded. "Aren't you supposed to be friends?"

"We are." Both replied.

"That was merely a warning to stay away from you." Youko said.

And the atmosphere changed to dangerous once again. She had to stop this…somehow. 'Okay…so I'm not that strong…not really, but there must be something I can do.' She'd figure out what to do about Kuronue later, right now she had to make her feelings clear to Youko; even if she wasn't exactly good at that.

Not noticing that Raizen watched her, Fay took a deep breath and stepped past Kuronue, only stopping when the bat demon set a hand on her shoulder. "I…I…' her gaze slid away from Youko's. "Probably do love you."

'Oh no.' Rinku thought, covering his face. 'This is going to get embarrassing.'

For Fay, not him. Which meant he could always use it to embarrass her some more later. He peeked through his fingers.

Bracing herself, she looked up into Youko's golden eyes. "So maybe I do love you, but there's someone else I love even more. In a very short time he's become everything to me, and the thought of never seeing him again makes me feel panicked, and sad, and about to cry. So I'm sorry." She bowed her head. "I don't know what your feelings are, but I can't return them."

"I see." Youko finally spoke into the silence. Fay hadn't known he'd come closer until his hand was tilting her chin up, his eyes meeting hers. He could steal her away but...she would cry then. The thought of seeing this little human cry made his chest ache.

"Very well. I will let you go, however, next time we meet, I will steal you away." He grabbed her then, pulling her into his arms in a kiss.

'Now I'm embarrassed.' Rinku thought, closing the gaps between his fingers.

'Why am I always around when these two decide to do this?' Suzuka thought disgruntled.

He already knew that Youko wouldn't have to steal Fay, and, he glanced at Kuronue who looked disgruntled as well but for a completely different reason. 'Maybe now he'll get it.'

Youko broke the kiss, but instead of letting go of Fay, he headed away through the woods.

Raizen followed after without a word.

"Hold on…so now we're heading back to the others, right?" Rinku asked.

"Looks like it." Suzuka and Rinku ran to catch up.

* * *

'Such dramatics.' If the situation had not been so dire, Azrael would have cracked a smile at Yusuke's bawling.

Had Kathleen truly passed away, he would have known it and taken her soul, but she hadn't.

He changed his ruined clothes and dropped the battle field. As soon as he did, Keiko appeared where the crater had once been, her hands still protecting her head. Around her, the light of an aquamarine shield flickered.

Keiko opened her eyes, surprised to still be alive. "Yusuke!"

She looked around for him, but he was already there, hugging her tightly. "Keiko!"

Smiling, Keiko wrapped her arms around him. "You're okay." She said relieved.

"Stupid,' Yusuke sniffed, pretending his tears weren't there. "That's my line."

"How….what…how did that happen?" Kuwabara asked, feeling completely confused.

Yusuke didn't care how it had happened, but Azrael answered anyway.

"She has the Right's protection." He gestured to the bracelet on Keiko's arm.

"That's right." Keiko showed it to them. "I think Fay forgot it back in the classroom. I found it and- oh no."

As they watched, the bracelet began to fall apart, the elaborately carved goldfish and the beads cracking, turning to dust and falling away.

Keiko grabbed a few broken pieces before they all fell away. "Fay's bracelet is ruined."

"I doubt Fay will mind." Kurama assured her. "After all, it did save your life."

"Yeah, we'll just buy her another one." Kuwabara said.

"You,' Yusuke glared at Azrael, anger still in his gaze. "If you still think-"

"I give up." Azrael's words sounded offhanded.

"You…you what?" Yusuke demanded. If this was some sort of trap he wasn't falling for it!

"It was your name she called." Azrael explained. "It's always been your name she's called. I cannot compete with you when there is no space in her heart for anyone but you."

"I'm sorry." Keiko said, for some reason feeling a little guilty.

Before Yusuke could demand to know why she was apologizing to the guy who had kidnapped her in the first place, Azrael lifted Keiko's hand and kissed it.

Yusuke's eye twitched.

"It is I who should apologize, Ms. Keiko. Know that if you ever have need of me, all you must do is call."

"Don't hold your breath!" Yusuke shouted as Azrael walked away then.

"You have no time for jealousy bouts, Yusuke."

"Who's jealous?" Yusuke shouted at Azrael.

Ignoring the outburst, Azrael pointed at his wrist. "The witch may not have told you, but her spell has a time limit that is about to expire. If you do not make it to your own time before then, you may be stuck here for quite a while."

With that, Azrael walked out the door, the door closing behind him on its own.

"The nerve of that guy," Kuwabara grumbled. "Making us go through all this and then acting all cool."

"That is not our concern, Kuwabara." Kurama said. "We have to find a way to get back to the clearing soon."

"Hopefully one that doesn't involved dozens of stairs." Shishi added.

"Looks like you guys could use some help." Arel appeared in a flare of fire, Touya over his shoulder.

"Arel!" Keiko smiled in welcome.

"Heya, Keiko." Arel replied with a wave of his free hand.

"Don't you think you're being a little too chummy with your kidnappers?" Yusuke groused.

"You can be jealous later, Yusuke." Arel said, a half smirk on his lips. "You are on a time limit right now."

"Who said I'm jealous!" Yusuke protested a second time.

"Touya lost his fight?" Shishi asked in surprise when he noticed the Ice Master.

"Yeah, but he sure did give me a run for my money,' Arel said. "...sort off. Anyway, I'll get you guys close to your destination; you can take it from there."

The group gathered around Arel. At the angel's quick gesture, fire burst forth to surround them before dispersing, leaving the solar empty.

* * *

'Finally.' Madeline finished the last added details to her spell and stood, looking to the north. The demons and Fay were coming from there. The other group would be coming from the west. 'Now I just have to make sure those two don't meet.'

Madeline had told them she wouldn't be picking up after them, but it looked like she had no choice, she had to uphold the order of the timeline, or the current High Priestess, her aunt, would kill her.

Madeline looked into the small hand mirror she'd brought with her. She'd set up a spell earlier on to keep an eye on them the moment they came within her range, now she could see the group with Fay come to a stop, Suzuka talking with Youko and a taller demon with very long white hair.

'He looks dangerous.' Even from here he felt dangerous. How Fay had managed to make friends with that kind of demon, she'd never know, but she knew it was dangerous.

'I knew it. Fay, on your own, you'd probably trust a damn crocodile if he smiled at you.' She knew her faction couldn't go after Fay because of their contract, but there had to be another way of getting her away from these…these…creatures. They were all dangerous, who knew when they'd turn on her. 'I hope you come to your senses soon, Fay.'

"Bout time they showed up, and they've got Yusuke's sheila with them." Chu waved, calling out to the group as they approached.

'Ten minutes left, Fay, get your butt back here!' From the image her mirror showed, it looked as if Suzuka and Kuronue were arguing over something with the silver Youko who held Fay in his arms, while the taller white hair demon watched, barely saying a word.

Madeline snapped her mirror close. 'Don't make me have to get you, because I won't make it pretty.'

* * *

"I can't tell you why, you just can't go any further." Suzuka insisted, trying to convince Youko to hand Fay over.

"I have never made it a habit to take orders from those weaker than myself." Youko said softly. "Give me one good reason why I should start now."

Suzuka's eye twitched. 'Weaker? Me?' Before Suzuka could respond to that statement, Fay spoke, finally done being dazed over Youko's kiss.

"Can you put me down, Youko?" She looked up at him. "I'm starting to feel like a doll, and Suzuka's right. You can't come any further. We can't tell you why, it's just important, but I promise we'll meet again." Truth was, she didn't want to leave him, but she had no choice, not in this.

"You are my doll." Youko replied calmly. "And I don't share."

'I thought we went over this already.' Fay thought, feeling frustrated. Too bad Youko was who he was, had it been anyone else she would already had beaten him to a pulp.

"I'm not a doll!" she snapped. "And let me go, we need to go now."

Fay suddenly found herself yanked away from Youko and set on her feet by Raizen. "If I'm done babysitting you, then it's time for me to leave. Youko,' he glanced at the demon. "If you won't take orders from him, take them from me. We go no further."

Youko didn't respond, his gaze moving to Kuronue. "You're going with them."

The bat demon nodded. They stared silently at each other, making Fay feel nervous. 'Please don't start a fight, Youko.'

"I'm leaving her in your care until I return for her." Youko finally said. "If she's so much as scratched, I will not be kind."

"If she's scratched, it won't be me who you find fault with." Kuronue answered.

'I don't get them.' Fay thought. 'Are they friends or not.' They didn't sound very friendly towards each other, and they definitely didn't act like she and her friends had when they were hanging out at the park.

"If we're done here can we move?" Rinku asked. "According to Youko we're almost out of time and I don't want to get stuck back here."

Raizen pushed Fay forward a step. "Try not to get lost again. I won't be there next time."

Fay turned about, wrapping her arms around Raizen's waist, startling the demon. "Thanks for protecting me." she told him. "Let's meet again in the future okay."

"Sorry kid." Feeling a little uncomfortable with her display of affection, Raizen set both hands on her shoulders and pulled her away. "I'm not the type to make promises."

"In that case let's hope." Fay replied cheerfully. "So I hope we meet again. Oh, and I'm sure your friends will come back. I mean, they have too, they are your friends."

Raizen highly doubted he would see them again but kept quiet.

"Fay lets go." Suzuka insisted, feeling impatient.

"Right." She headed over to him, only to be scooped up by Kuronue as he ran past Suzuka.

'Will people stop treating me like a doll!' Fay thought, her eye twitching. She looked back, past Suzuka and Rinku who followed, to Youko and Raizen.

"I promise!" she called back. "We'll meet again!" She waved, and although neither demon waved back, she didn't mind. They were both the strong silent type after all.

Once the group had dissapeared from sight, Raizen turned to leave. "Everything that happened here,' he glanced at Youko over his shoulder. "I think its best you forget it." With that he disappeared into the woods.

"You make it sound so easy." He would never be able to forget it; what's more, he didn't want too. Unable to help it, Youko took off after the group.

* * *

"What do you mean they aren't here yet!" Yusuke demanded of Madeline. "We have less than ten minutes to get the heck out of here and they're not here yet?"

"I'll go look for them." Hiei said. "I'm the fastest, I can-"

"Unless you want to end up stuck in this time, you're not going anywhere." Madeline snapped at Hiei.

He stared at her, red eyes dangerous. "Are you trying to command me?"

He'd disliked this girl from the beginning. Nothing would make him happier than having a reason to slit her throat.

"Heeey, wait for us!" The group turned as one when they heard Rinku's voice. He was sitting on Suzuka's shoulder, who ran not far behind Kuronue.

"Bout time those bludgers got here." Chu grumbled.

"Cutting it kind of close, don't you think?" Yusuke called out to them.

"We're here, aren't we." Rinku shot back.

"Fay!" Kurama ran to her as she was being set down by Kuronue.

"Kurama!" She hugged him tightly as he did the same, glad to be back with him. As long as he was by his side, her doubts and worries over Youko disappeared. 'That's right; it's Kurama who I love. No one else.'

"Enough!" Madeline jerked her away from Kurama by the sleeve of her jacket, dragging her over to the midpoint in her spell. "Stay there and don't move." She ordered, ignoring that all those conscious were glaring at her. The only one not doing so was Keiko, but only because she wasn't sure of the situation.

"You sure you worked out all the bugs?" Fay asked. She did not want to end up separated again.

"I double checked them, now hush." Madeline began chanting, the circle spell lighting up and beginning to spin around them faster at every word that echoed.

In one hand, Madeline kept a tight grip on her small mirror. 'Come one, come on, show up!'

"Is it me, or is this taking longer than the first time?" Yusuke asked, tone suspicious. Last time it was almost instantaneous.

"Maybe she finally grew a brain and decided to use caution." Hiei mocked.

Madeline's eye twitched but she kept up her spell. 'There you are!' The witch raised her right hand; a red line stretched from her circle, flashed past Kurama, and shot out of the circle spell.

"What are you doing?" Shishi demanded. He and the others followed the direction of the light. It lashed towards a figure with long white hair, who dodged it, golden eyes focusing on them.

"Madeline, stop it!" Fay shouted in panic, trying to make her feet move. Whatever Madeline was doing, it was also affecting Kurama. He was standing very still, his eyes looking blank.

She didn't know what her friend was doing, but if they were hurt, she would never forgive her!

"Think what you will, I'm doing this for your own good." Her fingers moved quickly in the air, the light she'd sent out finally managing to slam against Youko, stunning him.

The light lashed back into the circle, wrapped around Kurama, and sunk in, making him cry out and grab at his head in pain.

"Madeline!" Fay and Yusuke shouted in anger.

Ignoring them, Madeline spoke the final words, and the group disappeared from that time.

* * *

'It's so quiet around here without that group around.' Isis thought blissfully. This is what she liked. Peace, so she could be lazy.

"Want one?" she asked the small blue spirit beast sitting on her lap.

He looked up at the mini chocolate chips. "Puu." The sound was discouraged.

"Don't worry, you're still here. So you're other, less fluffy self should be fine."

Not that she was sticking around here to make sure they came back. She was here to get her Elementals back. If at least two of them hadn't collapsed yet, she'd eat her socks.

'Still, until they get back, I can enjoy the nice quiet winter day.' Maybe she'd take a nap.

A flash of bright red light, the echoing sound of a voice, and then…

"Kurama!" The moment they could move, Fay ran to him, kneeling at his side. He still clutched at his head, his eyes closed in pain.

"What the hell did you do to!" Yusuke demanded, stalking over to Madeline and grabbing her by her sweater.

"Step aside detective,' Hiei said. "I've had enough of this witch. It's time she died."

"Start talking or I'm letting him do it!" Yusuke shouted down at her.

'And it's over.' With a regretful sigh, Isis stood up once Puu had flown off to Keiko. Behind her she heard running footsteps.

"You're all back and Keiko's with you!" Feeling relieved, Botan jumped off the steps, heading for the group.

"Answer!"

At Yusuke's tone, Botan slowly came to a halt. "What...what's going on?" she asked, uncertain.

"She did something weird to Kurama!" Kuwabara responded, pointing at Madeline.

"I only cleaned up your mess, that's what I did!" Madeline spoke a word, sending Yusuke flying away from her. "Do you know how close they came to wiping each other out of existence?" She glared at the demons.

"And you stopped it." Suzuka said, finally realizing what had happened. "What exactly did you do?"

"I don't care what she did." Fay stood up, marching over to Madeline.

"Hmp!" Madeline tossed her hair over shoulder, shin tilted up. "You'll thank me later, trust me."

"Fine, I might do that, but right now I'm angry!" Fay pulled back her fist.

Before Madeline realized Fay's intent, she was staggering back and onto her rear.

'About time.' Shizuru thought smugly. That girl had really needed a good punch. She only regretted it hadn't been her doing the punching.

'That one's got a good right hook.' Chu thought, hiding his smile.

Madeline looked stunned that someone, especially one of her friends, would actually hit her. One hand covered her reddening cheek, indignant gaze on Fay.

"You…you hit me." She still sounded disbelieving.

"So what? You deserved it!" Fay snapped. "And I think you deserve a few more for being such an ass to my friends!"

Madeline bristled. "I have not! I've been on my best behavior so you just better-"

Fay pulled back her fist. "Finish that sentence and I'll-"

"Enough Fay." Kurama stood up, no signs of pain apparent.

"Kurama! Are you okay?" Forgetting Madeline for the moment, Fay rushed back to his side.

"Yes, I was simply…stunned momentarily."

'That didn't look like being stunned to me.' Isis threw another cookie into her mouth, enjoying the little show they were putting on, even if it was noisy. At least she'd gotten to see the future high priestess of the Witch Faction get punched, for that she'd put up with the noise.

"We'll talk about this when we get back home." Madeline stood up, trying to ignore her red cheek. "Fay, Isis, Nina, let's go."

Fay shot her a cold stare. "We've established this before, I am not leaving."

Isis swallowed and took another bite. "I'm under contract." She pointed her thump at Genkai. "And they have three of my Elementals."

"I'm staying." Nina stated firmly.

"There,' Yusuke smirked, his tone smug. "You heard their answer, but by all means; don't stick around because of that."

Hands curled tightly, Madeline glared at her friends, but she read the same answer in their eyes.

"Fine!" She whirled away. "Stay here, but don't come crying to me when it blows up in your face because I'll just say I told you so." She summoned a portal.

"Hey." Yusuke called.

Madeline glanced over her shoulder. "What?" she bit out.

"I may not like you, but you still helped us save Keiko, so for that, thanks."

"Thank you." Keiko bowed to her.

Madeline looked at a loss for words, at least for a few seconds. "Well it is my job to keep humans safe." She finally responded. "So no thanks are necessary but…you're welcome." With a dismissive wave of her hand, she stepped through the portal, letting it close behind her.

Rinku sighted in relief. 'She's finally gone.' And they were finally back in their own time.

"So, tell us what happened." Koto inquired. "Was it bloody? Why are Jin and Touya unconscious? Did they lose?"

"Before anyone goes answering those questions,' Isis finally deigned to stand up from her spot. She took Yukina's arm, gently towed her next to Hiei, who looked at her with suspicion.

"Get ready."

Puzzled, Yukina looked up at her. "For what?"

"What are you up to?" Hiei demanded.

"That's right!" Kuwabara complained. "I should be next to Yukina, not shorty."

Ignoring him, Isis held out her hand to Hiei, a friendly smile on her face. "Now, hand over the nice Elemental."

"Gladly,' Hiei replied. "It was nothing more than a nuisance to me." He set his hand in hers, and Isis gripped it tightly. A deep red glow slid down Hiei's arm and onto Isis's, sinking into her flesh.

"Yukina, get ready to catch."

Before anyone could ask her what she was going on about, Isis broke contact with Hiei.

Hiei staggered, his eyes growing large before they rolled back into his head and he collapsed.

"Hiei!" Yukina caught him, soon helped by Kurama.

"What happened to him?" Shishi asked. It seemed a little late for Hiei to topple over.

"The only thing keeping him on his feet was Firez." Isis walked over to Touya, gripping his hand. An icy mist swept from Touya to him, doing as Firez and sinking into her. She then went to Jin and recalled Windros, letting the cool breeze return into her.

"It shouldn't take more than a day or two for them to recover,' she turned to Genkai. "I'll be back at the same time once they do. And then we'll go over why they failed this class."

Genkai nodded. "Then we'll expect you in two days."

"Right." Although Isis would have preferred it be a week, she doubted these three would stay down that long. She'd better make the two days count. 'San Francisco, here I come.' And this time she was not budging until they showed themselves.

"And one more thing,' she glared at Nina, who stepped back, a shiver of apprehension running down her back. "You're coming back with me. I don't like being disturbed, but it's even worse when it's one of the Elders of the Shaman Council looking for his wayward heir, and blaming me for my, and I quote 'corruptive influence upon her!"

Nina laughed nervously. "That sounds about right coming from Elder Taurin." Her gaze slid away. "I'll uh…talk to him when I get back, at some point." When the Shaman gathering was over.

Isis let out a long sigh. 'I'm going to have to drag her back, aren't I.' That to her, meant work. How she disliked the word.

"You're coming back with me whether you like it or not."

The group sweat dropped, watching as Isis caught and dragged Nina with her. "Help! Fay, don't let her take me! I hate the desert!"

"Well…uh…I would, but I don't think I'm a match for Isis." Fay waved at Nina before she disappeared through the portal.

"Can we go back inside now?" Jury asked. "It's really cold out here."

"Good idea. Chu, Suzuka, Kurama, take those three to their rooms, then you can answer everyone's questions." Genkai ordered.

* * *

"Will you punish my sister?" Morteus asked of Lilith.

The woman shook her head, her shoulder length pale pink hair swaying with her movement. "No, I know Mortina; she will always act in my best interest." A slender hand set a black piece down on a square right next to a white piece. "And this is the first time she has failed in her attempts. However, although she failed to capture the Queen, she has brought us valuable information."

Lilith picked up a black knight, caressing it. "Summon Avdimi to me. I think it's time we made our presence to them a little more tangible."

Morteus bowed. "As you wish."

* * *

"So, is it possible?" The light brown hair youth asked of the other figure in the dark room.

Long talon like nails caressed what looked like a snow glove set above a fire place. The liquid inside the glove was in constant movement, an unknown array of colors flashing every second.

The hand belonged to a very tall lean figure whose black-purple hair fell around a beautifully sculptured face in bangs. He was dressed in a long sleeved turtleneck shirt that defined the muscles in his upper body, and denim pants that matched the color of his hair. In contrast, his eyes were a captivating pale blue-green, making a striking impression when he stared at someone.

"Yes." He answered. "But it won't be easy to make her cooperate."

The youth shrugged. "We'll find a way." Brown eyes darkened with an emotion resembling to sadness. "We have too, whatever it takes."

"In which case, we'll have one of the others keep an eye on her. Caecius should do, he's very good at hiding his presence."

It seemed obvious that the boy wanted to be the one to go, but if his leader had decided, then there was nothing he could do. "Very well, Orpheus, I'll let Caecius know of his new assignment."

"Don't look so disappointed, Vidar,' Orpheus called to the youth before he could walk out of the dimly lit room. "Either way, we will get her to us."

* * *

AN: I meant to post this up sooner, but life kept getting in the way.


	61. Chapter 61: A Winter's Break

Chapter 60: A Winter's Break

He couldn't escape it. No matter where he ran, it was always there, caging him in as if he were some helpless animal.

'Why aren't any of my powers responding!' No matter how much energy he summoned, it always failed to materialize. He was tired of running away; he was tired of the heat!

Out of the wall of fire, a being of lava erupted, eyes like portals to the deepest pits of hell itself.

Before he knew it, his body was moving on its own, backing away from the apparition, trembling uncontrollably. He forced his body to still, his will to be stronger.

"No matter what you do, I won't run!" Touya declared loudly. "Even if it means my life!"

Lava dripped down near his feet, hissing as it hit the floor. Silently, the creature hurled itself down at him, wings stretching out as if to envelop him in its burning embrace.

Touya braced himself, ready for death. Inches from his face, the angel of fire suddenly froze, literally. Ice ate away at lava and fire, changing it to spires and spikes of ice.

A tall figure hidden in armor of the same color as his surroundings silently passed Touya by, dragging a javelin spear in his wake.

"Ceres?" Touya asked uncertainly.

The Elemental suddenly whirled around, and Touya found the spear piercing his stomach. It was then that he realized this was all a dream. If it hadn't, the pain would have pierced him more than the weapon itself.

"Learn my Master's lessons well and perhaps one day we shall try this again." The Ice Elemental disappeared, and Touya hit the ground bleeding. The ice shattered and the fire fell on him...only it didn't feel as it should, it was cool and…

He jolted awake, grasping roughly at the arm touching his skin.

Panicked blue eyes met a startled aquamarine gaze.

"Uh…you were sweating, so I thought this would help cool you off." Fay said in way of explanation, looking pointedly at the towel that had fallen to Touya's covered lap.

Touya blinked, mentally trying to organize his thoughts and recover his composure.

"We're back in our time." He surmised.

Fay nodded.

"I'm glad to see you're safe."

"Thanks,' Fay replied. "Glad to see you're awake."

With his free hand, Touya swept back his hair, dimly realizing it was somewhat wet and his usual hairstyle had come undone.

"…Did everyone make it back okay? Keiko?"

"She's fine. Everyone's okay."

"What of Jin? Hiei?" He hadn't been the only one who'd been burdened with an Elemental.

"They're both doing fine. Actually, Jin woke up yesterday afternoon while Hiei woke up a few hours before him. Neither looked happy about being told that they fainted." She pursed her lips, trying to keep her smile from showing.

"Jin went off and pouted for a while. Actually, so did Hiei, but Hiei was more angry than pouty. Don't tell him I told you that. Anyway, him being angry was partly Kuwabara's fault. He kept telling Hiei how he'd fainted like a little girl watching a scary movie for the first time. Hiei kept demanding Genkai bring back Isis so he could cut her head off, then he'd get that big baboon, that's Kuwabara, and slice him into little pieces. That started a whole other argument I'm not going into. Oh and Jin, he stopped pouting once I lured him back to the temple with cookies."

The grimness of his dream, the emotions he'd experienced, faded away as she spoke, giving him some sense of calm. He even managed a small smile, knowing that it probably wasn't the cookies that had lured Jin back.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For waking me up."

Fay tilted her head to the side, observing him. "So you were having a nightmare." He'd been muttering in his sleep, tossing one way and the other when she'd come to check on him.

"Yes,' Touya said, tone heavy. "The worst of nightmares are those that reflect the true failure of one's actions. Had I realized what Isis meant before entering that castle, I would not have lost." Had Arel been the demon his dream had made him out to be, he would be dead, and Touya knew Arel would have gone after his tired friends, very likely causing their deaths.

Fay hadn't noticed this before but...Touya was a lot like Kurama. Their actions seemed to weigh a lot heavier on their shoulders than any of the others.

She patted him on the head with her free hand. "Don't be too hard on yourself, if you always concentrate on what ifs, you'll never eat…err…sorry, I mean you'll be blind to your accomplishments, and you'll never know you're strong because you've narrowed your view to only your weaknesses."

When he gave her a strange look for her slip up, she laughed. "Sorry, I got two different sayings mixed up. The second one my grandma told me, the first one…you don't need to know." That had actually been Nina telling her to hurry the hell up and pick what she was going to eat, what seemed a very long time ago now.

Touya found himself smiling. "Your grandmother sounds like a very wise woman."

"She is." Fay said proudly. She didn't mention her grandma was also scary. That little piece of advice had been followed by her grandma pushing her off an airplane before Fay had heard all the instructions on how to skydive. She'd barely survived it.

"Still,' Touya pressed his free hand to the side of his head. "Some failures I cannot accept in myself."

He looked so tortured; Fay couldn't help rolling her eyes. 'Guys.' She leaned in, kissing a startled Touya on the forehead.

The door behind them slid open.

"Fay, here is the water-" Kurama's words cut short, eyes narrowing in obvious displeasure.

"He had a nightmare." Fay explained, glancing back at Kurama. "That's what my mom did to us when we were kids, to make us feel better."

'I see. She was trying to comfort me.' Considering it was Fay, the kiss had been a surprise for Touya. He was expecting something more along the lines of her patting him roughly on the back and telling him to get over it. 'So she does have tact.'

"I understand." Kurama set down the bowl of water and reached for Fay's hand. "Then this is unnecessary."

Fay and Touya followed his gaze.

"Sorry." Finally realizing he still held on to her wrist tightly, Touya retracted his hand, inwardly wincing when he saw the red on her hand.

"I apologize, I didn't-"

Fay shrugged it off. "It's fine; it was a nightmare after all. Anyway, since you're awake you must want to clean up." She stood as Kurama did.

"Once you feel up to it you can head over to the kitchen." The two left then, Kurama taking Fay's hand in a possessive grip.

Once he was alone, Touya smiled to himself. 'Love seems to have rendered you a little blind Kurama.'

His thoughts soon moved on to something else. He wondered if Isis would show up soon. Like Hiei, he to wished to speak to her.

* * *

As it turned out, none of the three had a chance to demand answers from Isis. Botan took over once their last missing member rejoined them.

They had one week before Christmas and Botan was determined to make it special, so she dragged everyone else along with her plan. First off was her idea for Secret Santa. She proudly showed them the hat, again, and told them the rules; those being no trading.

At the end of that experiment, not everyone seemed all that happy with the name they picked, not event Botan.

'Chu? What am I supposed to get him…besides a razor and a week at alcoholics anonymous.' The grim reaper thought, feeling a little despondent.

'Oh! I know the perfect gift for Puu.' Keiko thought once she'd seen the name. Although she doubted Puu would pick out a gift for her. At that moment, Puu flew over to her, pecking her on the cheek.

"Puu!" he said happily.

Keiko took him in her arms. "Thank you, Puu, but I think you're supposed to wait until Christmas."

'What the hell am I supposed to get Kuronue?' Yusuke glared at the piece of paper, half hoping it would turn to cinders. He'd wanted to get Keiko's name. Now that he knew she liked purses, he could just get her one and end it quickly.

Yukina had been hoping to get her brother's name, instead she'd chosen Shizuru. 'This isn't bad, but I really wish I had Hiei's name. I know the perfect gift for him.'

If there was anyone glaring more darkly at their papers than Yusuke, it was Kuwabara and Hiei. They glared in disbelief at the writing, then at each other.

"You did this on purpose, shorty! I should have gotten Yukina's name!"

"Fool! I was against this from the start! Now even more so! And if you think I'm going to spare any of my time trying to find…' unable to say it, Hiei switched words. "Something to hand to a baboon; you can forget about it!"

"Right back at you, shrimp!" Kuwabara shouted. "No way am I going into a store for you!" He turned green, quickly covering his mouth. "The thought makes me sick." He mumbled through his fingers.

The only ones that seemed to not have a problem with who they picked were Koto and Jury.

"I know just the present for you," Jury said proudly. "It'll really bring out your tail."

"And I was just thinking I knew the perfect outfit for you." Koto replied, her thoughts more along a new referee's outfit. 'Or…maybe I should go a little more stylish. Something that'll go with her ears.'

"I don't think this was one of your best ideas." Shizuru said, looking down at her own paper. 'Suzuka…like I'd know what to get him…' she suddenly smiled, remembering a certain episode a while back. 'Then again, I could always buy him cucumbers and face cream.'

Beside her, Botan spoke. "I thought this would work out so well. Uh…I mean, of course it'll work out well. This gives everyone a chance to get to know each other better." She forced herself to sound cheerful.

"Oh, yeah?" Shizuru pointed across the room.

Although neither Kurama nor Kuronue were openly glaring at Touya, unlike Jin, it was decidedly obvious they weren't happy with the outcome of this venture. Touya looked a little hard-pressed at being the center of so much animosity.

"It's not as if I intently chose her name." he muttered to himself, feeling a headache coming on.

Botan sweat dropped. "Yeah,' she finally admitted. "I think you're right Shizuru." However she recovered quickly. "But it's already decided so there's nothing more to do but move on!"

'Hmm…' Shizuru wasn't entirely in agreement with Botan.

"So Genkai,' Fay sat next to the older woman. "What would you like as a gift?"

"Some peace and quiet would be nice." Genkai muttered. "But I doubt I'll get it anytime soon with you lot around."

Fay sweat dropped. "Err…right. Something a little less impossible maybe? How about a…err… nice toaster." Did Genkai need a toaster?

"Here,' Genkai passed Fay a magazine already opened to a page.

Fay took it, looking at the circled picture. "You…want a game?" This was unexpected.

"It's gotten pretty good reviews, so I thought I might try it out."

'I might even actually get to play it once things settle down.' Genkai thought.

"Deal." Fay answered. She couldn't really picture Genkai playing a video game, but the former granny had just gotten even cooler in her estimation.

"Alright everyone,' Botan clapped her hands, calling the group to attention. "Time to get ready, in half an hour we head for the mall!"

With some grumbling, the group dispersed.

Almost an hour later as the train began to move, everyone seemed happier, even Botan.

Having decided earlier that they were better off breaking Botan's rule, they'd gone off in search of the name they wanted. Yusuke had caught Puu and taken the small paper that had Keiko's name on it.

"Thanks, Puu," He'd said, letting his spirit animal go. "I'll pay you back."

Shishi had gladly turned over Yusuke's name to Keiko, saying he'd rather just buy something for Suzuka, he did know him well anyway, and not bother trying to guess.

Kuwabara ran around trying to figure out who had Yukina's name, but as it turned out, Jin had already handed it over to Hiei, who'd handed Kuwabara's name to Jin, who'd handed it to his sister.

It had kept going until Jin finally gained Touya's name, and not because he'd been looking for it.

"What yah mean you gave it to him!" Jin had demanded of Touya.

"She is his girlfriend," Touya had explained calmly. "Kurama gave me a more detailed explanation of what exactly happened, and I gave him Fay's name."

Touya had been surprised to hear from Kurama that his past self, Youko, had encountered Fay and some of the others, Raizen included.

"Didn't you have any memory of this before?" Touya had asked.

Kurama shook his head. "I could not have," he'd answered. "Madeline left no room for error; her spell froze me as well as my time, while the other half of the spell locked the memories deep within my former self. Once the spell rebounded, it unlocked them in me."

Kurama also knew that there were ways to unlock memories that were painless. Either Madeline had purposely chosen it to be so, or the witches knew very little of such things. He rather thought it was the first.

Touya had handed Kurama the paper. "I doubt you need it, but here."

Kurama took it with a smile before standing. "You're right, I don't need it," he'd said as he walked to the door. "It simply makes it more official."

To Touya, Kurama had looked and sounded so much like his demon self, that he found it hard to believe that Fay hadn't figured it out yet.

"Whose name do you have, then?" Jin's question had brought Touya out of his reverie. He smiled, showing Jin his name.

The group arrived at the mall a little after noon, with most everyone, Botan included, having decided that they'd be purchasing a gift for more than one person.

They dispersed then, leaving Chu, Rinku, Suzuka, and Shishi to tag along with Fay since everyone else had quickly left, saying that they needed to take care of something.

"Jeez, how am I supposed to buy your gift with you around?" Rinku muttered.

Fay perked up at that. "You're buying me a gift?"

Rinku looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You're not going to ask me what it is right? Cause I'm not telling."

"So what're you getting Kurama?" Chu asked her.

"Hmm…I'm not sure." Fay admitted. It was at times like these she wished she could knit as well as her older sister, but she couldn't. Her last attempt had had even her mother, who'd forced her to it in the first place, doubling over in laughter.

"Just get him a plant," Shishi muttered. "He seems to like those."

"Plants…" Fay thought it over. Kurama did like those. She'd noticed he knew a lot about them, more than anyone she'd ever met. 'He can also use them as weapons.'

"That's not a bad idea, Shishi." Fay made for the mall directory. There had to be a place for stuff like that here...right?

The group ended up stuck with Fay in a bookstore, of all places, until Hiei showed up, telling them to go away.

They gratefully hightailed it out of there, leaving Fay mumbling over a book on exotic flowers.

"Hey Suzuka,' Fay looked over her shoulder, didn't see the distressed blond, then looked around until she found Hiei.

"Where'd the others go?"

"Away." Hiei answered curtly.

"Hmm,' Fay shrugged it off. "This works. Hiei, you've known Kurama for a long time, right?"

"Long enough." Hiei answered.

"…Right, great. So tell me,' Fay reversed the book, showing Hiei the pictures. "Which one would he like best?"

"Kurama can use any of those plants as weapons; no matter how they look. Besides,' he pointed. "Those say they grow in tropical rainforests. How exactly do you plan on acquiring them?"

"Yeah, I can't exactly hop over there and get some seeds." Fay fell silent, looking over the pages of the book.

Hiei decided he'd rather not know what was going through her mind, so instead kept a lookout for anything suspicious. At one point he felt someone observing them. He straightened, searching for the culprit, but all he could see and sense were humans with no special abilities.

"Hey."

Fay's voice cut off his concentration and Hiei shot her a glare. "What?"

"Have you picked out something for Kuwabar- oops, I mean Yukina?" Fay asked, trying to hide her smile.

"I've already said this idea was idiotic."

"So you haven't."

"Hmp!" Was Hiei's answer.

"I'll help you pick out something,' If Fay knew him, he'd probably planned on that but hadn't known how to ask. "Just as soon,' she closed the book, placing it back on the shelf. "As I get back."

"And where do you think you're going?" Hiei demanded, grabbing her arm before she could walk past him.

"Bathroom," she explained, pointing. "You can't come with me there.' Before he could open his mouth, Fay continued. "And if you wait outside the door, people will think you're a pervert. Just think what Yukina's going to think about that."

Hiei closed his mouth, letting go of her hand. "Don't move. I'll get one of the girls."

Fay waved. "Don't worry." As soon as he'd gone out of sight, she left. 'I'll be back before you know it.' And she didn't need someone to babysit her in the bathroom.

As it turned out, the women's bathroom was out of order, so Fay found herself having to leave the bookstore for the mall's main restrooms.

She was washing her hands when the door to the bathroom opened, a group of girls entering, the last locking the door behind her.

"I don't think you're supposed to do that." Fay ripped a paper towel, using it to dry her hands before heading for the door, but the girls were between her and the exit.

"Excuse me."

The group of girls formed a tighter wall between her and the door.

Finally, Fay noticed that she'd seen some of these girls before.

"Hey, I know you." She pointed at a brown hair girl.

"You're one of Ku...uh…I mean Shuichi's school…' Fay drew out the word. "…I want to say acquaintances."

"I'm more than that, I'll have you know!" The girl replied huffily.

"And that would be…" Fay left the sentence hanging.

"I,' the girl pointed at herself proudly. "Am the president of the Official Shuichi Fan Club!" She flashed her card, making Fay sweat drop.

'Poor Kurama.' And she was starting to feel a little nauseous.

"And we are,' a blue hair girl said. To Fay's horror, all eight girls began to take on dorky looking stances.

"Shuichi's bodyguards!"

"I'm leaving now." Fay tried to go around them. In their rush to try to stop her, the girls tripped over each other, landing in a pile between her and the door.

"You're not going anywhere!" The brown hair exclaimed from beneath the pile. "Not until,' she dragged herself out and stood, glaring closely at Fay. "You,' she poked at Fay with her finger. "Swear to break up with Shuichi and never come near him again."

"No way in hell." Fay replied bluntly.

"You don't seem to understand,' blue hair girl said, standing near one of the sinks. "We're Shuichi's official club; that means that if Shuichi wants a girlfriend, he'll pick one of us!"

All the other girls nodded in agreement.

"Sooo…Shuichi agreed to that?" Fay wondered if she could make it to the door and unlock it in time to escape this insane asylum.

'_Fay!' _

'I would have made it back, if they hadn't cornered me.' Fay thought with a long inward sigh.

'_Fay, where the hell did you go?'_ Hiei demanded.

'_Sorry, I am currently being interrogated, please call back in a few minutes.' She_ answered.

'_By who!' _

Blue hair girl was speaking, giving Fay no time to answer. "Well, no not exactly, but even so we've dedicated years to learning everything about him!" The girl pulled out a booklet with Kurama's face on it.

"Nice photo, who took it?" Fay grabbed the booklet from the girl, flipping through it to find more pictures. She wasn't psycho, but she was not giving this back.

Fay also found some information on who they knew as Shuichi, but not as much as she knew.

"So…you guys,' Fay closed the booklet. "Are stalkers."

"Call us what you want!" a pink hair girl said. "But you're not leaving until you swear to let Shuichi go."

"Nope." Fay folded the booklet and stuffed it into her coat pocket. "Not going to happen."

Taking her by surprise, the blue hair girl splashed Fay with water.

"We're done being nice, if you won't cooperate on your own, we'll just have to make you."

Another girl threw toilet paper at her, while she barely sidestepped a glop of hand wash.

Fay smirked, setting hands on hips. "So let me get this straight; you guys are threatening me?"

"That's right." One of the others exclaimed.

Fay's lips curled into a dark cheshire grin. She may not be able to win against a Magus, Malaika or Dragons, but she sure as hell could take on a bunch of high school girls. She curled one fist, slamming it against her open palm. "Okay then, you asked for it."

* * *

Kurama paused at the food court, scanning the area around him. 'She can't have gone far.' He had the sudden urge to shout her name but knew that would bring too much attention to him, something he did not want.

"Achoo!"

The sound had him whirling around, his gaze landing on Fay as she came out of the hall leading to the mall bathrooms.

"Fay!"

She looked up as he called her, eyes widening when she suddenly found herself in his tight embrace.

"Kurama? What's wrong?" she asked.

He tightened his hold. "You should not disappear like that." He had begun to think that one of the Factions had taken her.

"Sorry. I thought I'd be back before Hiei."

Kurama loosened his hold, examining her with his eyes, finally noticing.

"Why is your hair damp?" It certainly hadn't been that way before he'd left her. He took her hands, noting that they were lightly scratched and a piece of toilet paper hung from the sleeve of her coat.

"Oops. Didn't dee that." Fay grabbed the paper and stuffed it into her pocket. "But hey, you should see the other guys." she muttered absently.

Before Kurama could ask for an explanation, Hiei found them.

"I thought I told you not to move." He scowled.

"Well I couldn't wait, and let's leave it at that." Then something occurred to Fay. "Please don't tell me you-"

"Fay!" Botan headed for them, waving her hand. "I'm so glad you're okay. We were beginning to think you'd been kidnapped again."

"Made a big deal out of it." Fay finished lamely.


	62. Chapter 62: Christmas Eve

Chapter 61: Christmas Eve

The three were soon joined by the rest of the group, everyone leaving the scolding to Botan, until Yusuke got there.

"What the hell's wrong with you!" He set a firm hand on her head, pushing down just hard enough to annoy her. "Don't just go disappearing like that! When that happens, it always means we'll end up having to rescue you!"

"It didn't this time, now let go before I kick you were it hurts!" Fay snapped, batting at Yusuke's hand.

"We should be glad Fay's fine an no baddies went and took her." Jin said.

Yusuke was about to snap at his friend, but suddenly realized his hand was wet. "Hey,' he retracted his hand. "Why's your hair so damp?"

"That is what I wanted to know," Kurama said.

Fay had long hair, and it had grown longer since they'd met her. Most of that hair was now wet, giving it a slightly darker tone.

"Yeah, it looks like you went in there and played with water," Koto said.

"Ah…it's nothing really," Fay said hurriedly. "It was just that…err…the facet I used wasn't working well and I got splashed before I could turn it off. No big deal."

Some accepted that while a few others didn't but decided not to press her since she was unharmed.

Once the group was reassured Fay wouldn't be snatched up by one of the Factions, they returned to their previous pursuits.

While Kurama would have accompanied Fay then, she refused his offer, telling him she'd be fine with Hiei.

It was easy enough to understand her, so Kurama acquiesced, waving goodbye as they both left.

'_Don't look so worried,' _Hiei sent him._ 'I don't make the same mistake twice.' _

'_Good to know.' _Kurama answered.

* * *

Sometime later, Keiko dragged Yusuke with her and the girls to a jewelry store. "If I'm going into a sissy place like that it better be for a really good reason." Yusuke complained, halting at the entrance.

"Of course it is," Keiko said, tugging at Yusuke's arm. "We're going to pick out a bracelet for Fay."

"And that's a very good reason." Botan chirped as she passed Yusuke.

'Oh...right.' It wasn't easy to forget that it had been thanks to that bracelet that Keiko was still here and...Fay's reaction to being told that it was gone.

She'd gone pale, her large eyes filling with an emotion Yusuke had interpreted as sadness. He'd almost thought she'd start crying, but then she'd shaken it off and smiled.

_"It's okay. I'd rather have Keiko back with us than the bracelet. If it's gone, then it's because its job is done."_

"Fine." He followed Keiko into the store, hanging back while the girls looked over the bracelets. 'But I doubt we'll find a bracelet just like hers.'

"They're all so pretty," Yukina said. "How are we going to pick just one?"

"Well…" Botan frowned as she looked one over then another. "We all know that Fay wouldn't like anything too girly."

"That's right,' Shizuru said, leaning down to study some inside the glass container. "Let's go with something simple and not so glittery."

"What about this one?" Jury pointed to a bracelet with periwinkle blue stones set in silver and white daisies hanging from them.

"That's not bad," Koto said. "But what about that one there?" She pointed at another that was simple silver with a heart at the end.

"Or this one." Keiko added after Koto. The one she'd picked out was also silver but had amethyst stones set in it.

'That is the simplest,' Botan thought. 'But all the others are so pretty too.' It was just too hard to pick.

"Hey, are you guys almost done in here?" Kuwabara asked from the store's entrance. "I think everyone else is ready to go." He was tired of wondering around the mall this long, even if he had spent half that time in the arcade.

"Not yet,' Botan told him. "And make sure Hiei doesn't bring Fay here, we're picking out a bracelet for her."

"Really?" Rinku raced in to join them. "I'll help. "

"And yah just happen to know a lot bout picking bracelets?" Chu mocked.

"It's just a bracelet." Rinku said. "It shouldn't be too hard."

A minute later, he realized it was.

"What about that one?" Rinku asked Jury.

Jury studied the bracelet then shook her head. "No, it's the wrong color."

'Does that even matter?' He thought, wrinkling his nose.

"Her bracelet was simple enough," Touya said, having found the group in the store. "Maybe something in blue. That's as close to it as we can get."

"Then I would be picking that one." Jin pointed to a simple bracelet with small sapphire stones.

"Too simple." Botan answered.

Jin sweat dropped. 'I'd be thinking that's what we wanted.'

'This is why I hate shopping with girls.' Yusuke groused. They took so long just to pick one little thing.

"I take it they haven't picked yet?" Kuronue and Kurama joined Yusuke just inside the store, watching their friends move here and there.

"And if it keeps going we'll be stuck here until closing time," Yusuke complained. "So go pick something out Kurama. They'll listen to you."

Kurama sweat dropped. 'I doubt they will if they don't find my choice satisfactory.'

He and Kuronue joined the others in perusing through the store inventory until one of the workers there; a young woman in her mid twenties with long dark blue hair, approached Botan and Keiko. "Perhaps I could be of some assistance?" she asked.

"Well…we're looking for something for a friend of ours." Keiko said.

"Can you tell me a little about her?" the woman asked.

Once they had given her a few details about Fay, she went to one of the glass cases, picking out one of the closed boxes at the bottom.

"Maybe this will work?" She opened it, showing the contents.

The bracelet was silver with stones ranging in different blues, much like Fay's had been, except that they weren't shaped like goldfish; they were shaped into a star, seashell, a rose, a peony, and a small dragon. In between the larger ones were much smaller stones shaped into forget- me- not flowers separating them. It was a little more elaborate than they were looking for, yet still managed to look very simple.

"We'll take it!" Botan and Jury chorused.

"I think this one will work." Shizuru agreed.

"Great, so can we get outta here now." Yusuke groused loudly.

The group left the store with their purchase, meeting up with Hiei, Genkai and Fay near the entrance to the mall before heading to the train station.

* * *

The next two days passed in relative silence…or as silent as it could get. Genkai tried spending sometime meditating, thinking over the Factions they had faced and what they could expect of the yet unknown ones.

They knew a little about the Dragons but not enough to really understand them. 'And nothing on three of the Factions.'

It was about this time that shouting crashed through the door of her room, running footsteps…and more shouting.

Irritated she went to put a stop to it, again.

On the third day, Isis paid them an unexpected visit.

"I thought you wouldn't show your face here until you absolutely had too." Genkai said.

Isis sighted dramatically. "How well you know me, unfortunately, my Elementals are annoying."

They headed to where the noise was usually found to be coming from, sliding the door open on a familiar scene, at least to Genkai.

'These boys are getting stir crazy. I'm starting to think it wouldn't be so bad if one of the Factions showed up.' At least the boys would get a work out then.

"So you finally decided to show up," Hiei scowled, red eyes glaring at the Magus. "I have a few questions to ask you."

"So do I." Touya added.

"Aye, you best be counting me in!" Jin chorused.

Isis didn't bother hiding her long suffering sigh. "I'm not here to answer questions today; I'm here to give you homework."

"What makes you think I'll go along with whatever you have planned." Hiei demanded.

Isis shrugged. "I don't really care if you do or don't. However,' she smirked. "I know you won't turn down a test, Hiei. And the test I'm about to give you is so difficult, so painful, that it'll have you tearing your hair out of your head, or screaming."

Jin swallowed. 'I can't be thinking what'd be harder than trying to control that Elemental.' Although from what Touya had told him, that had not been the best choice.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Yusuke said from where he sat. "What's this test?"

"The test,' Isis opened the small bag she'd had hanging from her shoulder, "Are these."

They leaned closer as she pulled them out. Half the group hit the floor.

"Rubik's cubes!" Yusuke demanded. "Jeez, and here I was thinking it was going to be hard."

"They are hard," Fay said seriously. "I spent half an hour trying to get the colors to match before I figured it out."

"You figured it out?" Kuwabara asked. He'd never been able too.

"So…what was it?" Yusuke wouldn't tell anyone, but he'd been curious a while back and tried it…it had been so annoying he'd broken it.

'Great, and even Fay managed to figure it out.' He couldn't believe he was worse than her.

"You take the stickers and put them back in rows." She said proudly.

The others sweat dropped.

"I get it," Yusuke said. "That definitely sounds a lot easier."

"Yeah, never thought of doing that," Kuwabara muttered. "Hold on…isn't that cheating?"

Yusuke and Fay stared at him. "So?" they asked.

Kurama hid his smile. "I doubt these work that way."

Isis snorted. "The others don't work that way either but it's easier. Unfortunately, you try it on this you'll get the shock of your life."

"So exactly what are we supposed to be learning from these toys?" Hiei sneered disdainfully.

"One: Patience." Isis dropped two of cubes back into her bag and got to work on the third. "Two: Sharpening your mind," She started moving the cube in her hand. "Three: How to synchronize with the Elementals. Now feel, don't just look."

She expertly moved the colors around, lining them up quickly, but that wasn't what those who could were paying attention too.

The cube exerted energy; first it was earth, and Isis matched that energy precisely. Then it quickly changed to that of water, the output of it going higher.

"Think of it as a song. In a song you have to match each note, whether you're singing or playing an instrument. The notes change, they can go high,' and here her energy rose to match the wind energy exuding from the cube. "And they can go low." The same happened but this time it was fire.

"If you three can manage to match the energy from the cube, you'll be that much closer to being able to work in harmony with my Elementals. If you can do that, then you'll be a lot closer to doubling your power alone." She stopped, holding up the finished cube.

"However, if you lose your temper,' she glanced at Hiei. "And try to force it to move without matching the energy, you'll receive a shock. Trust me on this, I went through it once."

'Surprising,' Genkai thought. 'I didn't think she had something like this up her sleeve.'

Even Yusuke could learn from that toy.

"So here you go." Isis threw the first one to Jin who caught it; once he did, the cube revolved itself so that none of the colors matched.

She threw the other two at Touya and Hiei. "Try it or not, but you won't be able to advance until you've learned to master that."

'Hmp! This should be simple enough.' Hiei thought.

'Synchronize…that's the same thing Arel mentioned.' Touya thought, looking over the cube he'd been given. 'I wish she had given us this before making us take on the Elementals.' Maybe then he would have been able to beat Arel, or at least match him.

'This sure doesn't look fun.' Jin thought. He'd much rather stick to physical training...but he didn't fancy knocking out again when he needed to be alert. 'Alright then, I'll give it a try.'

"And now if you'll excuse me,' with a wave, Isis headed out. "I have a boat waiting for me so I'm off."

"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to stay here?" Botan asked. "We're a day away from Christmas. And if you stay, you can keep an eye on how they're doing." She gestured to the three.

"Thanks but no thanks," Isis dismissed the offer. "I'd rather go through one Christmas each year rather than two." Christmas with her family wasn't exactly a 'fun' event, and she'd come to be cautious of it.

"Please wait."

Isis glanced over her shoulder when Yukina called her.

"I have some presents for you, I hope you don't mind."

To Isis, it translated to 'I have presents for my father, please take it to him'.

She shrugged. "Sure why not." Deciding she'd rather follow the shorter girl than stick around with this bunch (she shuddered at the thought), Isis headed down the corridor.

"Hold on," Fay jumped to her feet, hurrying after them. "I have something to talk to you about."

* * *

"You're leaving tomorrow?" Fay asked in surprise.

Kurama nodded. "I promised my mother I would spend the day with her and her fiancé. I will be here for part of the morning, and I will return the day after."

"Oh…I understand." Actually, Fay didn't want him to leave at all, but she did understand. Besides it wasn't like she'd be left alone, everyone else would be here.

"And I thought it would be a good day to go on our date." Kurama added.

Fay's wane smile brightened and she nodded. "Okay, I'll be ready when you get back."

She still had no idea what she was supposed to do on a date, but the thought had occurred to her that she could ask Keiko. Surely she'd been on dates.

"Here." Botan appeared then, handing Fay a booklet .

"Christmas songs?"

Botan nodded smiling. "Since it is Christmas Eve I thought it would fit. It'll also be a good excuse to get those three away from their training; they'd been at it since yesterday." And she'd happened by when Jin got shocked. His hair was even messier than it usually was.

"That's a good idea but…' Fay looked up at Botan. "Why are you handing this to me?"

"So that you can sing them of course."

Fay immediately shook her head. "No way. I thought I already told you, I can't sing. I suck at singing; cats meow in horror when I sing. Heck, dogs start howling."

"Oh come on," Botan said, dismissing her words. "We already heard you sing before and it was very pretty."

"No." Fay said firmly, setting the booklet on the low table and sliding it away.

Botan looked to Kurama for help.

Kurama coughed. "Well…perhaps you could try a short one. Once they realize you can't do it, no one will object to you stopping."

"Nice way of putting it." Fay said dryly as she stood. While there was almost nothing she wouldn't do for Kurama...this was an exception.

"I'll be back later!" she called rushing away.

"What... Fay, wait!" Botan picked up the booklet and ran after her.

"So you're leaving tomorrow." Kuronue walked in, leaning against the wall on the other side of the room.

Kurama didn't bother to respond.

"I won't ask you to accept defeat; both of us know that would be useless."

Kuronue didn't respond.

"However, I know you will soon have no choice."

"So you do remember." Kuronue said, tone unsurprised.

"Yes. I remember everything that happened almost seven hundred years ago. Although back then, I promised revenge against that witch, I no longer care about her."

Kuronue's lips twitched into a smirk. "And what is it that you do care about, Kurama?"

Kurama stood. "You very well know what it is."

They faced each other across the room, neither looking away from the other.

"And I would not leave had I any doubts that she could be taken from me." But those doubts had disappeared sometime ago. Fay was his; she would never belong to anyone else.

"I know you, Kurama," Kuronue said. "You won't leave without making one last move. One that will assure your victory."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "I don't consider this a game, Kuronue, but you're right. However, what that is, you will have to wait and see. And although you already know, I will warn you one last time, Kuronue,' He took a step forward, his form changing to that of his demon self. "Stay away from what is mine."

"Just out of curiosity,' Kuronue said mildly. "Do you ever plan to tell her who you are, or are you waiting for her to find out...and perhaps think in terms of betrayal..."

He didn't finish his sentence, Kuronue knew by the narrowing of Kurama's eyes that he understood.

Into their conversations suddenly intruded shouting from the kitchen. "Rinku! Stop trying to steal the cake! Chu, stop drinking that! You're not supposed to have it until at least twelve in the morning!" Came Fay's voice.

"Yusuke, what do you think you're doing! Put me down, I already told you I'm not singing!"

Kurama returned to his human form, managing to stifle his chuckle.

* * *

As it turned out, Fay found that she could sing...now. Which completely weirded her out.

'Go figure.' She supposed that whatever magic she'd managed at some point in the past had done some major reconstructing on her vocal cords; not that she was going to sing very often if she could help it.

The only two others who could sing were Keiko, Yukina, Koto and Jury; everyone else either didn't bother to try, or was really bad at it.

Chu sang the worse, followed by Suzuka, who had thought he'd had the 'voice of a songbird' according to himself. They were pelted with pillows.

The others refused to sing, though Genkai came around and tried it: She was not pelted with pillows. On a spur of the moment, Kuwabara tried, and was buried under a mountain of pillows, after which he and Yusuke ended up in another fight.

Jin wouldn't be made to sing, but he did hum along to Fay's singing. Since he did a pretty good job, he escaped the punishment.

Hiei tried to escape only to find himself sat firmly between Fay and Yukina. He shot the first a death glare but stayed. By the time the two girls slipped away, he was so engrossed in an argument with Kuwabara, he hardly noticed.

The first thing Chu did once twelve rolled around, was bring out the drinks. Since Fay had said to wait till twelve, she let it go.

Rinku was first to the presents, demanding to know if he could finally open his.

Botan was quite happy with the way thing turned out, even Hiei looked as if he were enjoying himself, if somewhat grudgingly.

"See, I told you it would all work out." Botan told Shizuru.

"Yeah, guess you were right." Shizuru responded. She didn't add that it was probably because everyone broke her rule.

Yukina and Fay handed Hiei a new sheath, since his last one had been broken. "This one won't break, at least not easily." Fay explained while Hiei looked it over.

"Where did you get something like that?" Yusuke asked. Even he could tell that that sheath wasn't normal.

Fay smirked. "It's a secret."

"Is that why you went to speak to Isis?" Kurama asked.

"And secret's out." She muttered before nodding.

"Do you like it Hiei?" Yukina asked, feeling a little uncertain.

Hiei finally looked over at her and nodded. "Yes…thank you." He said, voice low.

'I don't get it.' Kuwabara grumbled to himself. 'Why would Yukina care at all about that shrimp? He better not be trying to steal her from me!'

"I suppose she also helped with this?" Kurama asked Fay once he'd unwrapped her present. "Yeah, well her and Terra." It had helped that Terra liked collecting plants.

Terra had had all the seeds Fay had requested in the garden designed for her. It had surprised Fay a little that, according to Terra, Isis had designed and created the garden for her a few years back.

Kurama could name all the seeds included, however, he knew that many of them were highly rare and under his care could become very dangerous weapons. He was certain that Isis knew this, and that she must also know that they may very well end up being used against her family. Either she did not care, which he doubted, or… 'She cares about Fay more than she would ever admit.'

"Thank you." Kurama said, leaning in to kiss Fay on the cheek. Fay smiled feeling happy that he'd liked the gift.

"Okay, now it's our turn." Botan interrupted the couple, while beside her Keiko held out the small wrapped gift.

"This is from all of us."

Curious, Fay took the box, unwrapping it and opening the lid. "Oh." She gasped. She hadn't really thought about replacing her bracelet, and the fact that they had warmed her. "It's so pretty."

"See, I told you guys she'd like it." Jury said, as if she'd been the one to pick it out.

"Well, put it on." Botan insisted.

Fay obeyed, sliding the bracelet around her wrist. It was a little more elaborate than the last she'd had, but she found she didn't mind that. "Thank you, I promise to take really good care of it."

"As long as you don't suddenly burst out crying." Yusuke muttered.

Fay shot him a glare. "You don't have to worry about that." Besides, if he was talking about when she'd been told what had happened to the bracelet...well he'd probably do the same if he'd had to tell his very sweet yet really scary grandmother what had happened to the bracelet she'd worked so hard on.

'If I manage to survive all this, I still might not survive that.'

Chu suddenly burst into raucous laughter. "What are yah blokes waitin for. Let's start this rage!"

Fay sweat dropped. "What?"

Rinku sighted, looking put upon. "He means party. Jeez, Chu, how many beers have you drunk now?"

"Not enough!" Chu laughed.

When Fay would have headed to help Rinku deal with Chu, Kurama grasped her hand, stopping her.

"I do have one more gift for you," he said.

Curious, Fay watched as he reached into his pocket and took out a very small box.

From behind her, Fay heard Botan take an exited breath, bringing the attention of the others to the pair.


	63. Chapter 63: Confessions

Chapter 62: Confessions

Having been watching Kurama, Kuronue now understood what he'd been planning.

'Then again, it will only work if she goes along with his plan.'

"Hold it now!" Catching sight of the small box, Jin tried to intercept, except that Chu took that moment to hold him back. Since like Touya and Hiei, Jin's energy was low thanks to his training, all he could really do was struggle.

Fay didn't really understand until he opened the box and presented her with the ring, then her eyes widened as she stared at it, half in disbelief.

"Once this is over, please stay with me." He couldn't ask her to marry him, not yet, but he would leave nothing to chance when it came to her.

'Stay…with him?' She was nodding even before speaking.

"Yes!" Fay burst out, launching herself at him, arms wrapping around his neck.

Kurama returned the hug. Although he'd been certain she would agree, a small part of him had had doubts over it. As for revealing to her who he was… 'I will tell her tomorrow, before we return.'

Behind them, Botan sniffed. 'I'm so proud of myself.' She'd done such a good job with them.

The chill coming off a select few suddenly hit her and she froze, sweat dropping. 'I guess not everyone is as happy about this.'

Unaware of the divided atmosphere, Yukina walked up to them, smiling."Congratulations, I'm so happy for you two."

"And this means you'll be staying in our world, right?" Keiko asked.

Fay smiled, her arms still wrapped around Kurama. "I'm definitely staying, and thanks."

"So when's the wedding?" Jury asked.

Fay started blushing. "Hold on, no one said anything about a wedding!"

"That's right,' Kurama said, his tone a little too complacent. "First we must stop the Factions, and of course, we must both graduate from school."

"Yeah, that's-" Startled, Fay looked up at Kurama, her eyes wide. He was thinking that far ahead? All that had passed through her mind was that she would get to stay with him.

"Well, I think this calls for a toast." Shizuru said, holding up her wine filled glass.

"Yeaah!" Chu shouted, holding up the bottle while his other arm still held Jin in a secure chokehold.

With a lot of noise, and some grumbling, the group toasted the couple, after which the rest of the gifts were opened and Botan brought out the games she'd planned in advance for the occasion.

Not one to play games, Hiei escaped just as Botan announced them, so did Kuronue. Later, when Fay looked around for both of them, they were nowhere to be seen.

'They could at least try one game, they might like it.'

* * *

By the time the sun began to rise, they'd grown exhausted and all but Chu, who'd fallen asleep sometime ago, went back to their rooms to catch up on sleep.

Fay tried her best to stay awake, wanting to see Kurama off, but when it was time for him to leave, she'd already lost out to sleep.

Kurama passed by her room, kissed her cheek and whispered goodnight before making his way out.

Pausing on the steps of the temple, he looked up into the snow covered trees. "I trust you to look after her for me until my return, Hiei."

"Ha! Like you need to remind me," The fire demon scoffed, glowering down from his perch. "If you haven't noticed, that is my job, whether I like it or not."

Kurama smiled. "Until tomorrow then."

* * *

"Good morning sir." George walked into the office, a red Santa hat on his head, and paused blinking once as he stared at Koenma. The prince of Spirit world was slumped down on his desk, a cloud of gloom over him.

"What's wrong, sir?" George asked. "Didn't you get any presents?"

Koenma looked up, sniffing. "No. Everyone forgot to send me one." He slammed his small hands onto the desk.

"How dare they do that! I'm the Prince of Spirit World! How can they forget to invite me to the Christmas party! Waaaah!"

Koenma jumped up on the desk, kicking the stacked pile of papers to the ground as he threw a tantrum.

George sweat dropped. 'That's real mature of you, Lord Koenma.' Maybe this was why they hadn't invited him. He was starting to wish he'd stayed in bed instead of coming in today.

* * *

"It's a little later for it, but here's Christmas breakfast." Botan said as she finished setting the food on the table.

"Don't you mean lunch?" Rinku asked.

"Late lunch." Yusuke added.

The earliest riser had been Genkai, finally managing to get some peace and quiet for almost two hours before everyone else started drifting out of their rooms around one thirty in the afternoon.

"Well its still breakfast," Botan insisted. "So eat up before it gets cold."

"What's wrong with you?" Koto asked, noticing Fay's gloomy atmosphere.

"I fell asleep without seeing Kurama off." She muttered.

"He's only going to be gone today." Botan said, trying to cheer her friend up.

"That's right,' Keiko added. "He'll be back tomorrow in the morning."

"In the meantime, you have me." Kuronue leaned closer to Fay, who looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Thanks,' she said dryly. "That makes me feel so much better."

Kuronue would have leaned in closer, except Rinku was seated between them and he took that moment to stand up on his chair and reach across the table for the syrup.

"Do we get to train today?" He asked, changing the subject. "If I don't train, by the time the next Faction shows up I'll be rusty."

"Aye! I be wanting to train too!" Jin chimed in. He had some frustration to work out, and a plan to think up. He thought better while fighting.

"We have our own training,' Touya reminded Jin, making his ears droop. "Unless you've managed to master that cube, it's best we stick to it."

Touya managed to get half of one side done, after many trial and errors; it was proving harder than he'd thought to keep up with the energy the cube exuded.

After their late breakfast, the group split. Most of the boys went off to train while Hiei, Touya and Jin kept at their own training.

Fay finally asked Keiko advice for her date, but Botan took over, going through her clothes to find the perfect outfit. Jury and Koto joined them, with Yukina coming in soon after, curious about what they were doing.

'Do they even remember I'm still here?' Fay thought, watching her friends talk fashion. Half of what they said, Fay didn't understand. Deciding it was best to retreat; she left them to it, going in search of people she could actually understand.

She found Jin in the living room, concentrating on the cube.

Curious, Fay watched, wincing when a sudden shock went up Jin's arms.

"That looks painful; I thought the shock would be a lot milder."

Jin looked up at her, smiling widely. "Nothing I can't be handling. I'll not let this wee thing get the best of me."

Fay sat nearby, watching as he started again. This time, he managed to line up three colors before he let out a big breath.

"That was hard."

It didn't from where she sat, but then again, she wasn't the one having to keep up with.

"Try again. Maybe it gets easier with practice."

Fay expected Jin to agree and return to his task, but when she glanced at him she found his gaze not on the cube, but on her right hand. Then he looked at her, his expression unusually serious.

"I thought stepping back would be good, not make a big fuss about it but…" He leaned foward, which made Fay lean back, her expression confused.

"Fay, I-"

"Fay are you in here?" Botan peeked in, saw Jin and hurriedly held out Fay's cell phone. "Kurama's on the line."

The girl hurried to her feet, grabbing the phone quickly. "Thanks, Botan."

She walked off, leaving behind a somewhat awkward silence.

Botan gave a forced laugh. "Well...I'll just uhh...go." She hurried off, missing Jin's determined look.

Fay had never been one to talk on the phone much, but she spent over an hour talking to Kurama, after which she resisted the urge to call back for half an hour. In the end, he called her again and it wasn't until Yukina reminded her that they needed to start dinner that she finally ended the call.

Later, after she made her way back from a warm bath, wondering where Hiei had gotten too all day, Kuronue intercepted her.

"I need to talk to you, it's important." He said.

"Sure, just let me put this in my room." Wondering what he wanted to talk about; Fay set her things down next to her bed.

"Bring your jacket." He said from the door.

Puzzled, Fay obeyed, rejoining him.

"So what's up? Why are we going outside?"

Instead of answering, Kuronue gestured for her to follow, and curious, Fay did so.

'Are we going somewhere? Is it some sort of surprise?'

Kuronue led her outside, pausing beneath a tree not far from the glow of the temple decorations.

"Okay, so now will you tell me what's going on?" There was nothing here except for the lights; it was a nice view but there was snow everywhere and it was freezing.

She suddenly found Kuronue leaning in a little too close for comfort, his large hands gripping her forearms.

"Kurama has made his move, so I will make mine now." He leaned his forehead against her, leaving her wondering what the hell was going on with him.

"I love you."

The words left her staring at him blankly, feeling as if he brain had somehow warped what he'd said.

"Uh…this might sound stupid, but could you repeat your words, I think my brain made a mistake."

"No mistake,' he whispered, his eyes glowing. "I love you. I also know that you think you love Kurama, but I feel as if fate meant for us to be together."

Fay wrenched herself away from him, glaring.

"I don't_ think_ I love Kurama, I do. And...and..." What was she supposed to tell him? He was a friend and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, but who the heck gave him permission to go pull something like this! She didn't want anyone but Kurama to love her!

"I'm sorry," she finally managed. "I love Kurama, so I can't return your feelings."

His upper half was in shadow, indigo eyes glowing as he looked down at her.

For the very first time, it hit Fay that Kuronue was a predator, and he could be very dangerous if he wanted too. Inwardly, she shook her head. 'He's still my friend, so there's no reason for me to fear him.'

"But will you always love him?"

She nodded firmly. "Of course, that won't ever go away. Besides...well, have you thought that maybe you're just grateful that I helped in your rescue,' though he apparently didn't hold these feelings for Koto, who by rights was the one that actually got him out. "And you're confusing it for love?" her tone was hopeful.

"No," Kuronue answered. "I would never confuse my emotions in such a way."

He fell silent, his gaze on the stars above. "I knew this would be the outcome, but a small part of me wished it would be different,' he sighted. "Even if it might have hurt a friend of mine."

It was the first time Fay had heard him sound so downcast. It made her feel guilty for not noticing sooner and maybe doing something about it. She hugged him around the waist, looking up. "I still love you, just…"

"Just not the way you love Kurama." He finished for her.

She nodded.

Kuronue lifted her up, hugging her tightly. "Perhaps I sabotaged myself. After all, I did very little to let you know my feelings."

"That still wouldn't have made a difference."

Kuronue's response was tightening his hold on her.

They stayed that way until Kuronue finally set her down minutes later. He might have to give up on her, but if he had too, he would have something from her.

"You know, since you did break my heart-"

"I did?" Fay 's tone was distressed.

"You owe me some type of compensation."

"Okay, well..." Wishing she had known that before, Fay searched the pockets of her jacket, finding something in her right pocket. She pulled it out, remembering that she'd stuffed the Christmas tree cookie there after 'breakfast'.

"Uhh... How about a nice cookie?" she said lamely, holding it up to Kuronue.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay. Even I know that really sucks." Shrugging, Fay bit the top half of the cookie off, trying to think what she could give him and really wishing her sisters had told her about this before. Then she remembered; she always ran away when they started talking about it.

"Never mind,' Kuronue said, eyes glinting, his lips quirking up. "I will take the cookie."

In dismay, Fay looked at the half eaten cookie. 'Well it's not my fault.'

She offered the uneaten half to him, but he was leaning down, gathering her head into his hands.

"Not that half." Before she understood his intent, his lips swept over hers, the kiss forceful.

Her head went blank, and he took the opportunity to maneuver her lips open. Fay's eyes widened as his tongue slid in, in a maneuver that swept the cookie from her mouth and into his. It snapped her out of her frozen state and she shoved him away, her face heated and red.

"You idiot!" Her hand lashed out, slapping him on the cheek before she whirled around and dashed back to the temple.

Kuronue set a hand over his stinging cheek. 'Over all, it was worth it.' She tasted sweet, and the cookie was good too.

He suddenly jumped back as a small black flash slammed his blade into the snow.

Hiei glared balefully at Kuronue.

"Your jealousy is showing, Hiei," Kuronue said, voice taunting. "Who's the fool now? Or are you going to tell me you're angry on Kurama's behalf?"

Hiei pointed his katana at the bat demon. "Try that again and I will kill you, ally or not." Then he was gone, leaving Kuronue in a thoughtful silence.

* * *

'I hate him, hate him, hate him!' Face flushed, Fay ran into the nearest room, slamming the door closed behind her and sliding to the ground. She covered her cheeks, only to realize that she still held the uneaten half of the cookie. She glared at it, as if it were guilty of everything.

"Something wrong Fay?"

Startled, Fay sprung to her feet, only to slouch when she saw who it was.

"Oh, it's just you Jin."

He frowned at her words, but repeated his question.

"Nothing's wrong with me," she said, rubbing her red cheeks. "It's Kuronue's whose out of his head." In an indignant tone, she explained what had happened.

"Well now that's just not fair!" Jin exclaimed. 'He can't go pulling a move like that behind me back!'

"That's right!" Fay nodded in agreement, unaware of his thoughts.

"See if I ever give him cookies again." Or stand near him while eating them.

Angry, she stuffed the rest of the cookie into her mouth. 'If he thinks he's getting an apology for that slap, he's got another thing coming.'

On hindsight, she should have done far more than slap him; beat him to a pulp was more like it.

"Fay."

"Hmm?"

For the second time in less than ten minutes, Fay was frozen in place by shock.

Jin's kiss was gentler, breathy, playful and also managed to sweep past her lips, his tongue playfully sweeping the cookie out of her mouth.

It took her a few more seconds to respond, but Fay finally made her limbs move, pushing Jin away and slapping him as hard as she could. Forgetting that she probably should throw in a punch, Fay threw open the door and ran out. "Dumbass!" she shouted, racing away.

Jin ended up sprawled on the ground, a smug expression on his face as he chewed. 'That tasted sweet. Cookie's pretty good too.' Touya's face appeared above him along with Shishi and Suzuka.

"That was stupid." Shishi said.

"Very." Touya added.

"Aye, but worth it." Jin rubbed his still singing cheek.

"Whatever Kurama ends up doing to you,' Suzuka said. "I want to watch."

* * *

Fay slid into her room, this time making sure it was hers, and slammed the door closed before slumping to the ground.

'What in the world was that!' From Kuronue, okay she'd accept it, but Jin?

'Don't tell me he likes me too!'

If one of the Wizards had slipped her some kind of messed up potion, she'd beat the life out of them. If it wasn't that right now, she didn't want to be around those two, she'd march right back and beat their lights out.

Behind her, the door slid open, making her fall back and hit her head on the floor. "You know, that's not the best place to rest Fay. What were you doing there?" Botan asked.

"Nothing." She mumbled, standing up and moving to her bed.

"Did you catch a cold?" Yukina asked, worried. "Your face is very red."

Fay chucked the covers over her. "No, it's just that I don't get guys." Fay uncovered her head, narrowed eyes suspiciously staring at Botan.

"Did you by any chance know that Kuronue and Jin...they...errr..."

"Liked you?" Botan nodded. "Of course, that was obvious." And it was about time Fay got it.

"Not to me!" Fay exclaimed, covering her head again. "I wish you'd told me."

Sensing a story, Botan zipped over to Fay's bed, her smile that of a curious cat. "Okay, so spill the beans."

Fay didn't want too, but Botan eventually won their tug of war with the blanket and made Fay confess.

"If I'd known, I would have been on my guard and that wouldn't have happened!"

Botan sweat dropped. 'Somehow I doubt that.'

"Are you going to tell Kurama?" Yukina asked.

Fay shook her head hurriedly, her expression panicked. "No, I think this should stay secret, and forgotten. _Forever_."

"Are you sure,' Botan asked,uncertainly. "Kurama has a way of finding out things others don't want him to know, and well...you..."

"I'll deal with it then,' Fay was determined to deny those kisses had ever happened until the last possible second; although a very small part of her couldn't deny that the kisses...had not been bad at all. She mentally slapped herself.

"Until then, I'm going to pretend it never happened."

'I don't know...' Botan personally didn't think it would work. 'If I know those boys, that'll probably goad them into getting her to admit it.'

Since her source of information wouldn't talk anymore, Botan finished getting ready for bed, wishing her two roommates a goodnight before turning off the light.

* * *

"Well?" Orpheus asked of the vampire entering his office. This vampire's hair was white fading into black. His stature was shorter than that of Orpheus but his built was about the same, if a little bulkier. The long clawed nails of his hands were painted a deep black, matching his dark eyes. In contrast, his clothes were completely white, a belt of black hanging around his hips.

"She's well protected,' Caecius answered. "I followed her while shopping; there is always someone with her. One of them, the one known as Hiei, almost managed to catch me. If it hadn't been for Ms. Fay distracting him, he may very well have found me." There had been those few minutes when she'd gone into the bathroom, but Caecius had been ordered to watch, not try to kidnap her, and no one was making him go into a girl's bathroom.

Orpheus leaned back against the glass wall.

"What about up here?" He tapped his head.

Caecius shook his head. "The same one, Hiei; he seems to always be lurking close to her mind. From what I could sense, he doesn't go further than her surface thoughts, but if I had tried anything, he would have known."

"We need her," Vidar said forcefully, looking out at the view. "Without her-"

"I know, Vidar,' Orpheus interrupted. "And we will acquire our princess."

"For the moment, cease monitoring,' he ordered Caecius. "I will take over now." Orpheus walked over to a comfortably upholstered chair and sat.

"All I need is an opening into her mind. One small opening and she will be ours." He leaned back, closing his eyes, hands resting against each other.

Knowing that this would require all of Orpheus's concentration, Vidar and Caecius left, silently closing the door.

* * *

Promising his mother that he would call, Kurama left home early the next morning.

"I'm on my way to the station now," he said into the phone. "Going to the station won't be necessary; I'll call you once I'm on the steps to the temple."

here was a note in Fay's voice that worried Kurama, even if he wasn't sure what it was. "Did something happen, Fay?"

In Genkai's temple, Fay shook her head, remembered he couldn't see her and answered.

"No, of course not,' although she'd promised herself to act as if nothing had happened, bumping into those two so much this morning (and she was suspicious of that) didn't help her plan. "I just miss you. Which is why I'm glad you're on your way here."

Botan gestured for her to finish the phone call, holding up the dress all the girls had finally agreed on.

"I gotta go, I'll see you here, Kurama."

In the streets of the city, Kurama cut the call and hurried his steps. He still couldn't help feeling as if Fay were holding something back from him. He did not like it, and he would find out what it was.

As the station came into view, so did a figure, one he well remembered from some time back. He slowed his step, stopping as she came closer.

"Amalthea, it's a pleasure to see you again. I didn't think you would be visiting us so soon."

The Oracle's blue-green eyes were as gentle as before, the worry Kurama had seen in them once had returned, along with guilt.

"It is very nice to see you again, Kurama," she said, bowing politely. "And I do wish this was just a friendly visit, however it is not." Her tone was hesitant, with a sadness Kurama didn't remember hearing before.

"If it's bad news, I doubt dragging it out will make it better. Will you tell me, or would you prefer to wait until we reach the others?"

Amalthea shook her head, finally looking him in the eye. "This news is meant for you alone, Kurama, and as I'm sure you've already guessed, it concerns Fay."

* * *

"I knew this would be perfect." Botan chirped excitedly.

The dress they had eventually picked for Fay was the one she'd given to her for Christmas. It was a dark blue, with a ribbon of black wrapped beneath her breasts and another holding her hair back. The dress flowed down in waves to her knees, and although the sleeves were short, it had come with a winter jacket the same color as the ribbons.

"I just know Kurama will love it."

'I hope so too.' Fay thought, feeling nervous. Although she'd been told what usually happened on dates, she still didn't really get it. Especially the parts Yusuke said were spent standing inside stores waiting for a certain someone to decide on a dress.

'I'm sure he was talking about Keiko, but it's not like I'm going shopping for clothes anytime soon.'

"Did Kurama say when he'd be here?" Keiko asked, handing Fay her purse.

"No, he said he'd call me when he was on the stairs-" The phone rang and Fay hurried to answer while the girls, minus Shizuru and Yukina, gathered closer.

"Kurama?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm waiting on the stairs."

"I'll be right there in a few minutes." Fay answered, hurrying past the girls to the door.

"Good luck on your date, Fay!" Keiko called.

"We'll be waiting for a full report." Jury added in a sing song voice.

'And I'll try to get out of that somehow.' Fay sped down the hall, waving goodbye to Yusuke as she passed.

"Hope yours turns out fun." He called after her.

"If it wasn't fun, why go on dates then?" Fay tossed over her shoulder.

"To punish guys, that's why!" He suddenly ducked into the nearest room when he saw Keiko marching towards him.

* * *

Fay found him waiting on the stair landing, his back to hers.

"Sorry if I'm late, I forgot I was wearing sandals." She stepped closer when he didn't answer.

"Kurama?" Fay reached out to touch his arm but he jerked away from her roughly.

"Don't touch me."

Her blood froze at the tone in his voice. It was the type he used against an enemy, or with Madeline, one that had never been directed at her, not really. Now, it was.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" She tried touching him again but he stepped away, finally looking at her with eyes full of disdain.

"I've grown bored with this game. You no longer amuse me, so I'm here to break off this relationship."

His words should have made sense to her, they did...but at the same time, they didn't and she didn't want to acknowledge them.

"Wha...what do you mean break it off?" She grabbed his arm, her grip tightening when he made to pull away.

"I don't,' her voice broke but she continued. "I don't understand what you're talking about Kurama!"

He stepped back, untangling her hands from the sleeve of his coat as if she were someone he'd rather not touch.

"I'm sure you know what I speak off, even you cannot be so foolish."

He was still talking as if she were someone to be hated, and she didn't understand why!

"No, I don't! You don't mean it! You can't!" A noise began to pierce her skull, sounding much like a flat line beep.

"You would presume to know me?" His tone was haughty, his expression distant.

She shook her head, trying to deny his words,wanting it all to be a nightmare.

'The sound isn't going away!' It grew at his every word, and there was a pressure in her chest that grew along with it, even her eyes burned, blurring her vision.

She still felt disbelief, but along with it there was a growing pain that made her want to scream.

"You,' she let out a long breath, swallowing to keep herself from simply breaking down and wailing. "Were playing with me?"

"You saved me more than once,' Kurama said impassively. "I was merely repaying that debt. However, since I am tired of this game, I will continue to protect you, but don't presume-"

"Shut up!" Fay shouted, not knowing if it were at him or the growing sound. Her left hand grabbed at her right, jerked the ring from her finger and threw it at him.

"If that's how you feel then don't ever bother showing yourself again!" She whirled away and stumbled up the stairs, missing Kurama's aborted grab for her arm.

Kurama watched her go, the mask he'd sculpted his features into dissolving as he clutched the ring in his hand. He'd never wanted to hurt her, but he had, and in the process had hurt himself. He bit his lip, eyes hidden beneath red bangs.

'It must be this way.' If his plan was to work, there was no alternative. That did not stop the pain in his chest, or the urge to run after her and stop her tears.

'I will make this right.' Until he did, she would be safe with the others. He left, his form altering into that of Youko Kurama.


	64. Chapter 64: Trickery

Chapter 63: Trickery

"It's about time I get to fight someone who isn't Kuwabara." Rinku said, bringing out his yoyos.

"Whatever,' Shishi unsheathed his sword. "Just get ready to lose."

"And I'm fighting the winner!" Chu said loudly, chugging back the last of his drink.

"If you keep drinking so much, the only thing you're going to be fighting is your stomach." Rinku warned.

"No worries mate. This stuff's as weak as,' he hiccupped. "milk."

'Yeah right.' Rinku returned his attention to Shishi. "Ready when you- What are you looking at?"

Shishi was starring off at something to his left.

"What happened?" He took off, Rinku and Chu following once they caught sight of Fay lying on the snow.

Shishi knelt by her side, helping her get to her feet.

Her eyes, nose and cheeks were red from cold and tears, her knees and hands were scrapped and bleeding.

"What happened to yah, Sheila?" Chu asked, plainly worried.

"Where's Kurama? Wasn't he with you?" Rinku asked.

Tears started down her cheeks again and she fell to her knees.

"Did something happen to Kurama?" Shishi asked.

She shook her head, and although Fay tried to speak, the words came out garbled through her sobs.

The three shot each other worried looks, at a loss for what to do. None of them had ever dealt with a crying female, and they had never expected Fay to break down like this.

"We best get her inside." Chu knelt to lift her but Shishi beat him to it.

"You're drunk, we don't need you losing your footing and throwing both of you into the snow."

Rinku fully expected Fay to at least say she could walk, but all she did was keep crying. That worried him even more.

He raced ahead, knowing that Yukina, Genkai, or Botan was probably in the living room.

"What's the hurry about?"

Rinku paused, looking back as Yusuke stepped out of the game room.

"We found Fay, she's crying, but she won't tell us what happened to Kurama."

Yusuke took off running.

"Hey, what's that about Fay crying?" Kuwabara peeked out.

"Go get Yukina." Rinku shouted, hurrying after Yusuke.

Fay immediately clung to Yusuke when she saw him, trying to explain what had happened in broken words, but Yusuke couldn't make them out, until Hiei showed up.

"Kurama broke up with her." He explained, reading it from her mind.

Fay stumbled to Hiei, knowing it would annoy him that she clung to him but not really caring at the moment. She half tripped, but he caught her.

"What? Why the hell would he do that?" Yusuke demanded.

"I don't know," Hiei snapped. "Kurama never does anything without a reason. To do this-"

"He would need a reason." Kuronue finished, walking over to him. He gently ran his hands over Fay's hair, wrapping a strand of her hair around his finger.

"It better be a damn good reason!" Yusuke shouted.

"Aye! To be leaving her like that." Jin growled.

Kuwabara arrived with Yukina and the rest of the girls, Genkai appearing after Botan had finally managed to make Fay let go of Hiei so that Yukina could look over her cuts.

They settled her in their room; finally getting the story from her once she'd wasted most of her tears.

"It has to be a mistake,' Botan insisted, her tone soothing.

"That's right,' Shizuru said. "I'm sure Kurama will be here soon and he'll explain what all this is about."

Fay heard their words, but she didn't really believe them. Throwing the blankets over her head, she huddled beneath them and tried not to think. At that moment, hardly anything seemed to matter anymore. Not the Factions or the crest. All she wanted was for the world to leave her alone so she wouldn't' be forced to face it, because if she did, then the pain and tears would return; and those hurt more than any of the wounds she'd suffered before.

Time passed, though even that ceased to matter. Sometimes she was asleep, at other moments awake, and someone was trying to get her to eat but she didn't want too. They eventually left her alone and Fay fell asleep.

Then the voice began; it was sweet, kind, like that of her mother's singing to her when she'd been a child and sick. It assured her everything would be fine if she only stayed there, where the voice was; so Fay sunk deeper, letting the voice take her away.

She didn't know when the other voice began speaking to her; this one male, and so hypnotic that she couldn't help but listen to it.

The female voice began to change then, became ugly and full of hatred. Fay retreated from it, following the male voice. The one that did manage to take her so far from herself, that she began to wonder what had made her feel so much pain.

"_Let me go to you,'_ the voice whispered. _"I will bring you to where you will never_ _hurt again." _

Right at that moment, Fay wanted that more than anything, so she agreed, and he came.

* * *

"The nerve of those guys,' Kuwabara grumbled. "Going off and leaving us here to wait."

Once Fay had been seen to by Botan and the others over a week ago; Hiei, Kuronue, and Jin had taken off in search of Kurama.

When Yusuke and Kuwabara would have followed, Genkai had sternly reminded them that the Factions could still attack and that they would be needed here, not off on a wild goose chase.

"None of the Factions have attacked,' Touya said. "That worries me."

"Maybe they can sense that Fay's not doing well." Rinku guessed.

"I get the feeling they're up to something,' Suzuka said thoughtfully. "My bet is that one of them had some hand in this."

"Good guess,' Genkai set her tea down. "So why do you suppose that didn't occur to Kurama?"

'Cause everyone has their moment,' Yusuke thought. 'Though in Kurama's case, it's in reverse.'

* * *

"She didn't eat breakfast?" Botan asked, distress in her voice.

Keiko, who'd gone to check on Fay along with Yukina, shook her head, holding up the tray with the untouched food in it.

"Here,' Shizuru grabbed the tray of lunch Botan had in her hands. "Enough is enough; I'll make her eat it if I have to stuff it down her throat."

"Maybe be a little gentler than that," Botan said hurrying after Shizuru. "I mean, if she's not hungry-"

"How long can humans go without food?" Koto asked, heading after Shizuru along with Jury.

"Well, Fay's not an ordinary human,' Keiko said. "But…"

"She can't keep going like this," Shizuru slid the door open with one hand while the other balanced the tray. "If she were her normal self, she'd- uh..."

There was a very tall man with pale skin in the room, holding Fay in his arms.

The girls gasped when they saw him, his piercing eyes holding them captive; then he smiled and they forgot why they should be afraid.

"I apologize, ladies,' his voice was so hypnotic, that they leaned closer, wanting to hear him speak more. "But I'm afraid I will have to take the sleeping princess from her tower." He bowed. "However I will make certain that she eats."

And then he was gone, leaving the girls dazed, the echo of his voice and eyes still in their minds.

Shizuru accidently dropped the tray; the noise snapped them out of their daze.

"That must've been someone from one of the Factions." Jury said on a dreamy sigh.

"Whoever he is, he's a hunk." Koto said in the same tone.

"Snap out of it!" Shizuru scowled. "Whoever he was, he took Fay!"

Keiko was already running down the corridor, "We have to tell Yusuke!"

As she neared the living room, she heard him shouting, and someone who had to be Kurama responding.

"Fay's gone!" Keiko shouted, throwing the door open.

All eyes turned to her, then Shizuru and Botan.

"A really hot guy just appeared out of nowhere and took her!" Jury cried as she slid to a stop on the wooden floor.

* * *

"It will only be for two weeks," Amalthea said. "But you must make sure she doesn't come after you. One of the Factions will attack, and if she's with you, you will lose Fay for the last time."

For the first time in his life, Kurama couldn't seem to think straight.

'I can't lose her.' But if he did disappear without a word, or even by leaving a message, she would search for him. He would do the same.

'Then the Factions...' The images of claws and then later a sword, piercing her body ran through his mind's eye clearly.

"Kurama,' Amalthea called his attention tentatively. "The Guardian may have allowed me to come here, but she does not care what happens to Fay either way. If there is anything I can-"

"No." Kurama shook his head, trying to dispel the tendrils of fog that seemed to cling to his thoughts. "I will take care of this on my own." What he should know still evaded him, and while it did, all he could do was follow the plan that hastily came together in his mind.

"I must go, goodbye." He ran past Amalthea, heading for the train station.

Once he'd left Fay, he'd headed into the mountains, trying to outrun the constant fog in his mind. Oddly enough, he kept thinking that maybe he should have asked Amalthea for help. If he had, then hurting Fay wouldn't have been necessary. But it had seemed...wrong.

The fog had finally began to lift the day before, leaving Kurama feeling as if he'd been drugged; and as it lifted, he realized his course of action had been unnecessary. He could have talked it over with his friends; he wasn't alone in protecting Fay.

His rose whip brought down several trees in his path, but that didn't pacify him nearly enough.

"Even with my Jagan eye, you're hard to find when you don't want to be." Hiei landed to his left while Kuronue landed to his right. A gust of wind let him know Jin was above them.

"Care to tell us what the hell you were thinking, Kurama?" Hiei demanded.

"Or are you going to tell us that first we have to beat you?" Kuronue took a threatening step forward, reaching for his weapon.

"I'll be the one beating him first!" Jin shouted down. "Even if he does go and tell us the reason." And he didn't think it was good enough.

"I will make no excuse,' Kurama responded, eyes moving over the three. Although half of him was glad that his friends worried about Fay, another part of him couldn't help but think that she belonged to him, so this was none of their business.

"But I will tell you what happened."

Silence followed Kurama's explanation, but Hiei finally sheathed his sword. Although he hadn't seen Fay in about a week, he'd been reaching out to her mind, finding it easier the more he did it. What he wasn't feeling from her was worrying him, even if he didn't show it.

"We're heading back." He stated, threat in his voice.

Kurama's golden eyes narrowed as he stared through them at Hiei.

"Where do you think I was headed?" The words held a threat of their own; meant to remind Hiei that no one gave Youko Kurama orders.

The four demons made as much speed as they could on their way back, not having to stop to look for tracks helped. Even so, it took them two days to finally make it to the temple.

"About damn time you came back!" Yusuke exploded the moment he saw Kurama. "Now would you mind telling us what got into your head to pull a stunt like that!"

"I will tell you, but first I want to see Fay." Kurama answered.

Then Keiko was there, informing them that Fay was gone, Jury elaborating on that statement soon after.

True enough, when they reached her room, there was no one there; not even the lingering presence or scent of who had taken her.

Kurama would have demanded Yusuke call Mary Anne, but he was already doing it, shouting out her name.

"God dammit! Can't I even take a bath in peace!" The small guardian wrapped the towel tightly around herself, glaring at everyone there.

"Now you know how I feel." Suzuka said, for which she shot him a death glare.

Yukina hurried into her room, soon coming out with one of her kimono's. "Here, it may be a little long though."

"It'll do, thanks." Mary Anne walked into the nearest room, slamming the door closed. "Now tell me why the hell you couldn't have waited until I had clothes on to summon me,' she said through the door. "Oh wait, let me guess; someone kidnapped Fay." Her tone was cynical.

"Good, then it'll save us explaining,' Genkai answered. "So on to the next question, who can hide their presence so well that not even Kuwabara was able to sense him?"

"And why let Amalthea show up without letting us know she was coming?" Kurama added.

Mary Anne opened the door, eyes angry. Instead of answering Genkai, she answered Kurama.

"Amalthea is the Oracle of Midgard. She cannot leave her world without my express permission and through no portal but mine. And she doesn't just 'show up', you make an appointment to see her. That has always been the rule, and that will always remain the rule!" Her words carried power that made the ground beneath them quake.

"Then why was she here a week ago?" Kurama demanded.

"She couldn't have!" Mary Anne retorted heatedly, taking a step toward the red head. "Because she hasn't requested a portal to any other world!"

Kurama fell silent, his green eyes showing that he his mind was rapidly working.

"Even I have a shadow."

The words puzzled everyone, who had been quietly watching the exchange.

"Avdimi." Mary Anne's tone was grim.

"Who?" Kuwabara asked.

Mary Anne crossed her arms as she studied Kurama. "First I want an explanation, then I'll give you mine."

So Kurama told them the reason he'd broken up with Fay, but only one thing interested Mary Anne.

"So you didn't ask for her help?" The guardian asked before any of the others could question him.

"No," He answered, his gaze suspicious. "Why would I when it was not her problem to fix."

"Because Avdimi is a Black Oracle, the shadow to Amalthea; every oracle has one, that's why there's only one left. Avdimi's ability isn't true sight. Instead she sees what she wants to happen and leads a person down that path. She also wears a perfume that's like a drug to those around her; it has no scent and it's very subtle, but it usually ends with her target asking for help, and her leading them right into her trap. Which is why I'm surprised you managed to avoid that trap Kurama." Others hadn't and they'd ended up dead as some tales showed.

Sure, he'd apparently made a mess of his relationship with Fay, but hey, no one could have everything.

"Then it wasn't Kurama's fault,' Botan said. "So-"

"No,' Kurama interrupted. "It was my fault. I should have known I was drugged, but instead-"

"This isn't the time to feel remorse!" Hiei said sharply. "We should be concentrating on who took Fay and where."

"That I couldn't tell you.' Mary Anne said with shrug. She'd forgotten how many times she'd told them that the Guardian, her, was not involved in this war.

However, if Avdimi was working for a Faction, it would probably be The Fears. And that could become a nightmare she would have to deal with if they didn't.

"Don't start shouting, Yusuke,' she warned. "Or I swear I'll carry out one of my previous threats." She held out her hand and an ipad appeared, balanced on it.

"Hey, what happened to your book?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'm not fourteen anymore and I moved into the twenty first century. I'm sure you can figure out the rest Duck Dodgers."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kuwabara growled.

Mary Anne ignored him. "I still can't help, but since Yukina was nice, I'll do you a favor and try to figure out who it was." Her hand worked quickly to ready the device.

"Now, tell me one of you actually saw this guy."

"I did!" Koto and Jury hurriedly raised their hands.

"Actually Keiko, Yukina, Shizuru and I saw him too." Botan added helpfully.

"Good, the more people that saw him, the better," Mary Anne said. "Now, describe him to me."

"He was really handsome." Shizuru said.

The other girls nodded in agreement.

"He had the dreamiest eyes." Jury sighted.

"And he was very tall." Keiko added in.

Mary Anne's eye twitched. "I need a description, not an opinion." About the only one who did that was Keiko.

"Oh, well,' Botan thought it over. "His eyes were a pale blue-green."

The rest of the girls added more details, a picture finally emerging on the screen.

Mary Anne couldn't help but whistle in appreciation.

"I think handsome is an understatement. I don't usually say this, but this guy's gorgeous."

"He is isn't he?" Yukina said, looking over Mary Anne's shoulder.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara protested. "He's a bad guy!"

"Are you going to gawk at his picture forever!" Yusuke demanded of Keiko, who was also looking over Mary Anne's shoulder.

"Not bad looking." Genkai muttered.

"You too, Genkai!" Yusuke's eye twitched. Were all the girls in their group going insane?

"I doubt he's as beautiful as me." Suzuka leaned over, taking a look. He stared in silence for a few seconds before he moved away.

"Fine, but I bet he doesn't have class." It was obvious he was seething.

"What is he and where did he take Fay?" Kurama demanded.

"Or should we wait till you sheilas have done your gawking?" Chu asked. 'If the bludger's a pretty boy, I'll just bet he's a pushover.'

"Right,' Mary Anne tapped the screen again, letting the picture be replaced by a view of earth. She was almost certain he wouldn't be in this world.

"His name is Orpheus by the way. He's the leader of the Vampires, which explains our reaction to him," The view had been zooming in and finally stopped. "And he's somewhere in an island off the Coast of Hawaii. That's as close as I can get."

"I take it you're talking about your world." Touya inquired.

She nodded. As much as Mary Anne disliked that thought (there was a reason why she'd sent Fay to another world), since the idiots had not had the decency to stay in this world; it seemed as if another battle would take place in hers.

'If this complicates the already growing problem...' Hot or not, she was wringing that vampire's neck.

"For the rest, well you know two of Fay's friends already. Either call the witch,' there was a resounding 'no!' from some of them while the expression of others agreed. "Or call the Shaman."

"And how do you expect us to manage that?" Shishi scoffed. "We don't exactly have a phone that transcends dimensions."

"Unless you would care to bring her to us." Kurama said.

'Just remember Mary Anne; you can't kill them.' Her ipad disappeared as she reached into nothing, grasped and pulled.

Nina stumbled out of it, literarily, the back of her short sleeved dress in Mary Anne's grasp.

"La! Do you mind!" Nina snapped.

"Consider my part in all this done." Mary Anne let go of Nina, walking past her into the same nothingness she had dragged her out off.

* * *

"Ogre, hurry up!"

George walked into the office with another pile of papers needing to be signed, only to find Koenma not at his desk, but running around in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

"I'm not being left out again!" Koenma said. "This problem obviously needs my personal attention, so I'm heading off to Hawaii with them."

George sweat dropped. "But sir, what about your work? You can't just leave it here. Besides, are you sure you're not just trying to take another vacation? Think of what Lord Enma will say."

"Hmm…" Koenma looked over at George with narrowed eyes. "Too bad you feel that way, ogre. I was just about to ask you to come with me."

George was gone in a flash, returning soon after dressed much like Koenma, with a hat on his head.

"I'm all ready to go sir. I'm sure the paperwork can wait for just a few days."

"That's the spirit! Now hurry up before they leave!"

By the time the other ogres filed into the office with more paperwork, Koenma and George were long gone.

* * *

Fay huddled in the warm cocoon of the blankets above her, the soft mattress beneath her. She inhaled, breathing in the scent of freesias.

This finally woke her, thinking it was a gift from Kurama, but then she remembered. She braced herself against the overwhelming emotions that swamped her on waking, but soon realized those emotions felt...muted, as if someone had sunk them deep into a pool.

She sat up, brushing strands of her hair back, her eyes moving right to the man she somehow knew would be there.

He set the book he'd been reading down, giving her a smile impossible not to appreciate, but...well that was just it, she didn't think anything more of it.

Fay opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a gasp of surprise as she finally took in the wall far behind the man.

"Is that an aquarium?" She asked in wonder. There were tropical fish swimming back and forth behind the walls, and beyond them a forest of corals. All but the ceiling and wall behind the bed she'd been sleeping in were of the same glass.

"Is this some kind of illusion?" she asked suspiciously.

He shook his head. "No it's not, yes were under water, and this glass is only one sided. We can see out but no one can see in."

'Woah.'

"How do you keep so many fish near the walls then?" they swam back and forth behind glass, as if it really where an aquarium.

"Let's just say…it's the ambiance of Vampires."

'Whatever that means,' Fay shook her head, her gaze still glued to the scene. 'Isis would love this.' Which reminded her...

"So whatever this ambiance thingy you do is; can you attract whales and dolphins with it?"

"Yes..." he replied, tone puzzled. "However, the nearest whales are still far out; the dolphins would be simpler to call."

Fay finally turned to him. "Okay, then call a dolphin! Can you make him dance?" she asked excitedly. "I mean...whatever way dolphins are supposed to do that, and can you-"

He held up a hand to stop her rambling.

"You're avoiding the conversation we should be having."

His words deflated Fay's recently discovered good mood, and she let out a long put upon sigh. 'Party pooper.'

"Okay... I guess,' she scratched her head, knowing there were questions she had to ask and not really wanting too.

"I'm guessing that it's you doing whatever to dampen my emotions."

Orpheus nodded, gesturing for Fay to take a seat across from him. Reluctantly, she complied.

"Vampires are gifted psychis, and although it was somewhat difficult to create a link to you, I have. This gives me some power over you. Not much,' he said when her eyes began to spark with anger. "Just enough to help me dampen some of your emotions, the ones that make you into a miserable mess, to be precise."

"I see." Fay knew she should probably demand he stop messing with her emotions and let her deal with it, but as she'd proven before, when it came to emotions she was something of a coward. So she would be taking the easy way out of this, at least until she felt ready to deal with it.

"Okay, so you doing me a favor aside; you did kidnap me and if it's my power you want, well I'm sure you know the answer."

"We do want your power,' Orpheus began. "But not for what you're thinking about." He tapped the snow glove in the middle of the table they were sitting at.

Fay hadn't paid it any attention, what with the walls, but now she did, frowning as she looked it over.

"So what do you want me to do, clean if for you?" her tone was sarcastic.

"No, look closer,' Orpheus nudged the snow globe closer to Fay and as she stared, the colors began to take on the appearance of threads tangled into a very messy knot.

"This is a miniscule part of existence, and the knot you see is the curse that keeps us out of the sun and drinking blood."

Fay shook her head. "I still don't get it. What do you think I can do about this?"

"Break it." Orpheus answered promptly.

"How? I can't exactly just break the globe and the curse along with it."

"But you can break our curse,' Orpheus insisted. "I'm sure you were told this before; we are not the living dead. Now what you don't know; we were once of Atlantis, but our ruler turned foolish and defied our Gods. In retaliation, they destroyed Atlantis. Those who survived, they cursed to never set foot under the sun and to need the blood of humans in order to survive."

Fay wrinkled her nose at that, then quickly clapped a hand to her throat.

Orpheus chuckled. "No, I have not taken your blood, though...' his eyes warmed with interest. "It has crossed my mind that yours would be treat."

Fay made a grab for the snow globe, but Orpheus was faster, before she could even blink, the globe was in his hand.

"Don't worry; I won't take your blood without your permission."

'Don't hold your breath for that.' Fay thought, shooting him a dirty look.

"So you want me to break the curse and you'll what; let me go? Excuse me if I find that hard to believe." She said cynically.

"If that is your wish. However you should also take into account that we are Atlantean and in one of your other forms, you used to grace the halls of our main temple. We protected you, and your High Priest still lives amongst our Faction."

'Cause this all matters to me.' Fay snorted. "Like I care about that. I just want you to let me go so that I can go back to-"

"To whom?" Orpheus taunted, raising an inquiring eyebrow. "To your friends and that fox? The one who threw you to the side like so much rubbish?"

"I..." Her lips trembled so she pursed them tightly as she did her eyes, trying to keep the emotions at bay. Then Orpheus was there, sinking the emotions deeper.

"They are still my friends." Thankfully her voice didn't break on the words.

Orpheus reached across the table, yanking gently on a lock of her hair. She swatted at his hand but he kept a hold of it.

"You're not listening, princess."

"I am not a princess!" Princesses got stuck atop towers, waiting to be rescued. Screw that, she'd rescue herself...somehow. 'I mean, there has to be garlic here somewhere.'

"I said you shouldn't return to,' here he paused to make sure he had her full attention. "That fox."

Her eyebrows scrunched in puzzlement. "What's this got to do with Youko?"

"Listen to me carefully,' he leaned across the table towards her, while behind her back, Fay curled her hand into a fist; if he tried anything, she'd take out all her frustrations on him.

"When I say that fox, I mean Youko Kurama."

Fay didn't get it, Raizen had used both their names together as well but what did that...

_"Youko Kurama." _

She remembered Raizen saying those exact same words.

_"On the contrary, we could almost be best friends." _

Kurama had told her that when she'd asked if he and Kuronue were getting along.

_"I know a Kurama. He's a young thief, but he sounds more like the Youko you mentioned."_

Raizen's words… She'd thought he'd been confused, but it had been her. So many other little things began to make sense to her; all making her feel even more stupid for not noticing before.

"…_even you cannot be so foolish."_

Her legs hitting the ground made her realize that she'd stumbled out of the chair, as if trying to get away from the realization, from the words.

'He really was playing with me.' But then why, why go through all that trouble too...

She shook her head, it didn't matter.

'Why would everyone keep this from me?' They couldn't have known, they...they couldn't have.

Her eyes were blurring again, tears running down her cheeks, and the pain was back. She was gathered into warm arms, a soothing voice whispering in her ear.

"I thought that leaving your memories intact would work in our favor, I may have made a mistake."

She tried to tell him that she didn't want him to take her memories, but the words wouldn't form. All she could do was clutch at his shirt, wishing it was Kurama who held her, even if he had been toying with her.

"I can erase your memories; change them...but emotions, those even I can't erase." He'd lost complete control of her emotions when he'd spoken the fox's name and she'd realized the meaning. No, this wouldn't work. He would have to redirect those emotions, as for her memories; they would have to change dramatically.

"It seems I will have to break my promise."

Fay struggled, trying to pull away, but he wouldn't let her go, and then she felt fangs start to pierce the skin of her neck.

'_Now, let's try this again.'_


	65. Chapter 65: Hidden Trap

Chapter 64: Hidden Trap

'Well this sucks.' Isis had come all the way out here to get away from this group, and hoping she wouldn't have to see the people she thought as responsible for making her work when she'd rather not. Now here they were, thanks to Nina commandeering her father's yacht after luring Isis here with promises of finding what she'd been looking for.

'And for what? To go rescue Fay again. Sheesh, can't that girl go one lousy month without being kidnapped?'

Pouting, Isis rested her head against her arms on the railing, watching Nina from the corner of her eye.

Like her, the rest of the group was giving the Shaman space so that she could concentrate on finding the island that was hidden from sight by an illusion. The last thing Nina needed right now was emotions clouding up her working space.

"By the by,' Isis straightened from her slouch, looking over at Botan who was nearest to her.

"Who's the idiot that went and let the vampire into Genkai's temple?"

All eyes turned to her.

'Why do I get the feeling I should have kept my mouth shut?' Isis thought with an inner sigh.

"Care to elaborate?" Kurama asked. To Isis, it sounded like a demand laced with threat if she didn't answer. Considering she didn't want to expand the energy it would take to argue, she answered.

"A vampire can't go into a private dwelling, and I'm assuming Genkai doesn't let just anyone traipse in and out of her temple," she glanced at the woman in question.

"What do you think? Genkai said.

"Then a vampire has to be invited in."

"But none of us let him in,' Botan said. "He was already inside our room when we found him."

"Could Fay have let him in?" Jury asked.

"How?" Koto frowned, thinking it over. "Most of the time she was asleep, and when she wasn't she wouldn't tal..." The atmosphere Kurama was generating made her stop, edging away from him.

"So it couldn't have been Fay." Rinku said.

"It probably was,' Isis countered. "Vampires are some of the most gifted psychics in existence. Illusion, mind to mind speech, heck, even their voice and eyes are hypnotic to a degree. My guess is that Orpheus offered Fay something she desperately wanted at that moment, and since that would mean him having to come to her, she invited him in."

Yusuke slammed a fist against the railing of the yacht, making her wince.

"Will you be careful! This was my father's, you know."

"Damn him! Taking advantage of her that way!" The second he saw him, he was beating Orpheus into his grave. Vampire or not.

Isis shrugged. "He's a vampire and part of a Faction, I think it's safe to say that's the way they roll!"

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Touya would have thought she'd have added it to her explanation a while ago...then again, this was Isis.

"I didn't know it then, I found out about it through an old journal I found." While trying to hide from her family and their little 'meeting of the minds'.

"Is that all you found out?" Genkai prodded.

Isis shook her head. "The journal said that Vampires have no essence, so no, you can't sense them. They're really good at sneaking around since they make absolutely no noise when moving, not even footsteps. Thanks to that curse on them it's as if they're phantoms; they're real selves aren't all there." But thankfully, they were not sparkly; she shuddered at the thought.

"And if they happen to take your blood, though it has to be a certain amount, no you won't turn into one of them,' she said when Kuwabara started looking pale. "But they will have a lot of power over you."

'Power over her.' Kurama thought darkly. He knew his anger was palpable to all those there; anger at himself for falling into the Black Oracle's trap, and anger at Avdimi.

'We will meet, and she will pay.' He didn't take lightly to those who managed to fool him once, and he showed no mercy to those who hurt those he loved. Avdimi had done both, through him.

For the present, he would concentrate on retrieving Fay from the vampires...by whatever means necessary. She belonged with him, and anyone who stood in his way would die. And if they had dared to take her blood, he would make certain that the end they met would be slow and torturous.

"I found it." Nina opened her eyes, recalling her three ghost companions.

She gave Isis the directions and Magus sent them to Ceres who stirred the yacht.

"Are you sure this is it?" Suzuka asked. "To me it looks like we're about to jump into the ocean."

Kurama grabbed onto the railing and jumped down, seemingly disappearing out of sight.

"Never mind." He jumped after him.

"I'll stay here with the girls,' Genkai said. "And make sure Isis doesn't take off before all of you get back."

"Aaawww!" Isis whined. No one told her this would be a two way ride!

"I'm going," Koto said, grabbing the railing. "There's no way I'm missing out on another bloody battle."

"Hold on, I want to come too." Jury said, hurrying after her friend. She wasn't too excited over the prospect of blood, but maybe she'd get to see Orpheus again. 'Plus the other vampires should be cute too.'

"Well, I'm going too." Botan materialized her oar, jumping up on it.

"Hold on Botan,' Shizuru jumped up behind her, steadying herself.

"Sis! You can't go, this'll be dangerous!" Kuwabara argued.

"Someone has to go and make sure you don't lose another fight, baby bro." She was also counting on whoever was waiting for them to concentrate on the boys, which would give her and Botan a chance to go in search of Fay.

"But-"

"I don't think she's going to change her mind Kuwabara,' Botan said, heading for the barrier. "So you better hurry up or you'll be left behind."

Kuwabara finally looked around, realizing that the only ones left were Keiko, Yukina, Isis and Genkai.

Yukina smiled up at him. "Do your best Kazuma, and please help bring Fay back safely."

Kuwabara grinned, grabbing Yukina's hands in his. "Don't worry baby, I'll beat up all those vampires and bring her back in no time."

Isis snorted. "Yeah, that'll be the day."

"Just you watch!" He exclaimed, turning to glare at her.

"Kuwabara, go!" Genkai's command made him jump, and he quickly hurried after the others.

"We'll be back with Fay later." Then he was gone.

"I at least better see a whale for my troubles!" Isis whined loudly.

"Hey! How am I supposed to concentrate on my tan with all that shouting you guys are doing!" The complaint came from the yacht's second level, where Koenma peered over the edge.

"Lord Koenma, shouldn't you be putting on sunscreen?" They heard George say.

Isis eye twitched. "And why is _he_ and his butler here?" she demanded of Genkai.

"You try making him stay behind." Genkai answered. She hadn't bothered, but Yusuke and Kuwabara had, unfortunately for them it hadn't worked.

* * *

"You dumbass!" Fay stood over Orpheus, the remains of the wooden chair she'd been sitting on not too long ago held up threateningly over her head.

"Serves you right for being a perverted vampire!" The moment Orpheus's fangs had started sinking into her skin, Fay had made a blind grab for anything to hit him with. Her hand had encountered the chair, so that's what she'd brought over his head in anger, and she had a lot of anger.

Orpheus winced, rubbing his shoulder as he looked up at her. The taste of her blood was still in his mouth, and his lips held traces of it. He licked them, savoring the sweet taste so unlike anything he'd ever tasted before. 'Even her blood holds power.' He could feel it sliding down his throat like small bursts of electricity.

Fay glared daggers at his action. "Lick your chops one more time and I swear I'll take out all my frustrations on you, then I'll use what's left of the chair as a stake, on you!"

To hell with him helping her with her emotions, she'd rather deal with them than have this pervert inside her head.

"I was only trying to help you."

She raised the chair higher. "The hell you were! I'll have you know you're not the first pervert after my blood, and look just what happened to them! They're dead!" Sure it'd been her friends who'd caused their deaths, but even if it caused hers, she was putting him in his grave if he so much as leaned close.

A burst of laughter coming from the other side of the room caught their attention.

Leaning against the open door was a man shorter than Orpheus. His hair was white tinged with sky blue beneath a cowboy hat; he wore a black vest over a white dress shirt and his pants and boots matched the rest of his clothes. On his hips two dark brown belts crisscrossed each other, holsters carrying two large guns attached to them.

Fay eyes filled with surprise. 'He looks like...a cowboy.' A vampire cowboy, if his fangs were anything to go by.

He tipped his hat to her, his smile lopsided. "Nice to meetya little lady, now if you'll be so kind as to let my partner there get up without staking him,' he gestured down at Orpheus with a tilt of his chin. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to apologize."

'He even sounds like one.' He had that drawl in his voice, and although Fay had the feeling that it still had a hypnotic quality to it, it was much warmer and humanlike than Orpheus.

"Zephyr,' Orpheus drawled. "How nice of you to show up in my hour of need."

Zephyr grinned. "Just doing my duty, but I thought I'd let you know that our High Priest out yonder is getting tired of waiting for yah to call him."

Orpheus looked up at Fay. "Well? Are you going to let me up, or should I be readying myself for more pain."

"I'm thinking it over." Fay raised the broken chair as far as she could, and when neither vampire made a move to stop her, she finally relented, stepping away so Orpheus could get up.

She lowered the chair though she didn't let go of it.

"Now then, have yah talked to her about our curse?" Zephyr asked.

Orpheus nodded, dusting his clothes to get rid of the small wooden pieces all over it. "We haven't come to an accord as of yet."

"I already told you,' Fay said. "I don't know how to-"

"And I already told you,' Orpheus interrupted. "We have your High Priest with us."

"Well bully for you, but why would that matter to me?" To her, it was starting to sound as if they were going around in circles with this conversation.

Zephyr tisked. "I can see my partner here didn't explain it well, so I'll give it a go. Now, the reason having our priest friend here with us matters, is because he can go and teach yah how to use them powers you are allowed to have as the Right."

Fay's eyes lighted with interest. "Okay, go on."

"So since Orpheus here made a mess of the first deal, here's the second: Our priest friend teaches yah to use your powers, and you use them to break our curse. I mean, look at me."

She did, not really understanding what he was getting at with that.

"Here I am, a cowboy, and my skin's almost as pale as snow."

"Yeah,' Fay said dryly. "That's a real shame."

"Come on now, little lady,' Zephyr coaxed. "Ya'll going to help us right?"

"And you'll let me go?" She demanded.

Zephyr glanced over at Orpheus from under his hat.

Orpheus frowned. "Are you sure you want to go back to them and that fox?"

"His name is Kurama,' and even if it would take a long time to get over him, she could still pretend she was okay. "And they are my friends; who will come here, kick your collective but, and drag me back with them even if I didn't want too. So yes, I am sure."

Orpheus sighted, finally nodding. "Very well, break our curse and we will return you to your friends."

Zephyr put two fingers to his lips and let out a high whistle to which Orpheus winced. "Can't you just call him telepathically?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Zephyr replied with a smirk.

Vidar entered, a honey color cloak on his shoulders that hid the clothes he wore beneath with the exception of several silver chains around his neck.

Fay didn't know what got into her head then, or maybe what pushed her out out of it, but she was suddenly glaring haughtily at the boy.

"How dare you enter my presence in that childish form!" She heard herself snap.

The boy bowed. "I apologize, I find this body better suited to conserving power, however if that is your wish,' before her eyes, he started growing until he was just a few inches taller than Zephyr. "Then I will grant it."

Fay found herself back in control, inspecting the new vampire. "Actually, I preferred you the other way." At least when he was small she could beat him over the head if she had to make a quick getaway.

Without blinking an eye, he returned to his younger form.

"Now then, we'll just be leaving you two to get along with it." Zephyr said heading for the door.

"I'm certain we will all know the moment the curse is lifted." Vidar's eyes began to narrow as they focused on Fay's neck.

"Orpheus,' Vidar said, a light scold in his tone."You should know better than to attempt something so foolish."

"No, I didn't." The vampire leader said, rubbing his shoulder. "I do now."

Vidar took a step towards her, his hand lifting, but Fay brought up the wooden leg of the chair. "Come any closer and I'll beat you, and believe me I'll make it hurt."

Vida paused, then gestured at her neck. "It's still lightly bleeding. I thought I would heal it, I meant to do nothing else."

"That's mighty careless of us,' Zephyr tisked, walking over to a cabinet stand next to the bed. He opened it, fishing something out.

"Here yah go, little lady." He held out the first aid kit to her, making Fay wonder what vampires would want with that thing. 'Well saves me the trouble.'

She edged over to it, still holding the wooden leg in her hand, and took it.

"Thanks."

Of course, they had known she'd been bleeding, but since it hadn't been bad, had ignored it for the time being. Unlike the stories humans told, when they were not close to starvation, vampires didn't go crazy at the sight of blood.

"Now we'll just leave y'all to get to studying." He tipped his hat politely at Fay and headed out, waiting at the door for Orpheus, who reluctantly followed.

"I take it you're not serious about letting the little lady go, now are you?" Zephyr asked once they'd headed down the corridor.

"No." Was Orpheus's firm reply.

Zephyr tisked. "That's not very gentlemanlike, lying to the little lady."

Both suddenly halted mid stride, their heads tilting as if to hear something far off.

"They must have friends in high places. Otherwise how would they have managed to find this place so quickly." Caecius and three other vampires joined them, one similar enough to Orpheus to be his brother.

Unlike Orpheus, this vampire was dressed in black leather; his hair color was just a little darker, his eyes were a pale green, and his built a little sturdier.

The vampire crossed his arms over his chest. "So how do we get rid of them if they find their way in?" And he had little doubt they would.

"I say a good showdown is in order,' Zephyr replied. "Care to be the first one up, Vesper?" He asked the vampire dressed in black.

"I don't do welcomes,' Vesper replied, then gestured at the only blond in their faction. "Why not let Skirron take care of them all? With his ability it shouldn't take him long."

Skirron's brown eyes darkened in disgust. "What am I? The house maid?"

Unlike all the others, Skirron's clothes could be called more normal than all the others; he wore a dark brown jacket, a short sleeved blue shirt beneath, jeans and a pair of hiking boots.

"Let Aquilon take care of them."

Aquilon's stature differed greatly from the others, unlike them his shoulders weren't as wide, his built was more lean than muscular and barring Vidar's child form, was the shortest. He was also Zephyr's younger brother, matching him in hair and the mismatch gold and dark green eye color.

Aquilon's clothes were a sleeveless Chinese battle robe over dark blue pants. On his right arm, the tattoo of a rising silver dragon rested.

Aquilon said nothing, not that Skirron or any of the others had expected a response. Aquilon very rarely spoke, and when he did it was usually one word. None of them had ever heard a full sentence out of him.

"You'll go first, Skirron." Orpheus said.

Zephyr smirked. "Should I go fetch that maid outfit for yah, ma'am."

Skirron made a grab for Zephyr who evaded him, laughing.

Aquilon stepped between them, hands stretched out to keep them apart.

"Aquilon's right, this isn't the time for games." Orpheus commanded. "Skirron be ready, though of course they'll have to get through our first defenses."

"Outta curiosity,' Zephyr said. "Let's say they manage to get through both the defenses and Skirron here; y'all know they outnumber us right?"

"They'll be separated soon enough,' Orpheus answered. "From then on it's simply a matter of picking them off one by one. Besides, one of us is more than enough to take out three of them."

"Ah,' Zephyr said, nodding. "The good ole divide and conquer." He tilted his hat over his eyes.

"But I betya the other Factions went and said the same thing before they all fell."

"Then let's be cautious." They took Orpheus's words as a dismissal, and the vampires scattered to their posts.

'Teach her well, Vidar. We're counting on you.' Orpheus thought, glancing back down the glass corrdidor.

* * *

"Don't you think it's weird?" Yusuke asked. "Why go through the trouble of putting up a barrier if anyone can just go through it?" He'd have thought they'd make it like the others, so that people wouldn't just stupidly stumble in.

"They did,' Nina replied. "I broke through it."

"What! When did that happen?" Usually breaking barriers were pretty flashy.

"Well, it's more like with Hayden's help, I made a hole through it so we could get in, though I doubt they still don't know we're here."

"Just out of curiosity, you do know where we're going, right?" Shishi asked. He didn't feel like ending up lost in this forest.

"Of course,' Nina replied, her words holding a Spanish accent. "I have always had excellent sense of direction, I will get you there."

"So how come Hiei couldn't just use his Jagan eye?" Kuwabara asked. "I mean, isn't that what it's for?"

"Didn't you forget?" Rinku asked from his place on Chu's shoulder. "He couldn't use it to find the girls last time they were kidnapped, why would it work this time?"

Hiei shot him a glare. "The magic they use to create their barriers blocks my eye." As much as he hated to admit it.

"It doesn't matter how, just as long as we get there." Touya said.

"And we're here." Nina came to a stop, looking up at a moss covered boulder from where water trickled out.

"You sure this is the place?" Yusuke asked, frowning. "I don't mean to sound doubtful, but I'm not seeing a big fancy mansion or a mausoleum anywhere near."

"Just watch." A fan appeared in Nina's hand as she stretched it out forward. She snapped it open, twirled it one way then the other, creating a gust of wind that fluttered the air before it as if it were a curtain. Swirling symbols began to appear, creating a pattern that started at the top of the boulder and went to the bottom.

The fan disappeared and Nina pulled back her fist, bringing it forward in a powerful strike that broke through the symbols revealing a stone wall, a metal door imbedded in it.

"Since when are you that strong?" Yusuke asked having jumped back in surprise when Nina had punched the symbols.

"Gunnarr lend me his strength." Nina shot over her shoulder, walking over to the metal door and kicking it off its hinges.

As they watched, it tumbled down noisily to the stone floor, exposing a tunnel leading down.

"Well, at least this one doesn't have stairs." Yusuke muttered. "It just leads down into a cave; I guess vampires really must be related to bats."

Kurama passed him by. "Don't forget why we're here, Yusuke. Save your jokes for later."

"Right, let's go."

The tunnel led them straight down, only to come to a dead end.

"Now what?" Rinku asked, looking down from his perch at Nina, who was looking down at the floor along with Kurama.

'It's the same symbols.' Kurama thought, crouching to inspect it.

"You don't really think any bats will come out and attack us, do you?" Jury asked, now regretting having tagged along. She was the last of their group and once she stepped on the carvings, the floor started to tremble.

"Earthquake!" Botan cried out, trying to keep her balance.

The stone floor started falling rapidly, taking them along with it, but slowly stabilizing.

"It's like an elevator." Shizuru said, getting to her feet.

"Then let's be hoping we're not going to be dropped into some dark pit with spikes." Jin knew he could get out of it, and maybe Botan and Kuronue, but he doubted the others could.

Jury paled at his words, clutching Koto's arm tightly. "Noo! I don't wanna die!"

The stone slab began to slow down, finally coming to a halt, floating a few feet off a ground thankfully devoid of deadly spikes.

They jumped off, studying their surroundings.

"It's a big cave,' Yusuke said sarcastically. "Now what?"

The cave they were in was large, but led nowhere that they could see; for all intents and purposes, it was just the bottom of a hole.

"Well, we could always head back up." Botan said looking over at the stone slab, except it wasn't there anymore, and the hole they'd come through was gone as well.

"Never mind."

"Well?" Hiei asked Nina. "You don't expect them to just appear and give us directions, do you?"

"Don't be so sarcastic,' Nina walked away from the group, studying the walls around them. Hayden was with her now, looking for markings that would let them know what to do next.

She informed the others of what she was doing, and soon they had spread out to search.

"Just a warning,' she called, her voice echoing to the others. "If you do find something, don't-"

"Hey, I found something!" Kuwabara pushed at the symbol on the wall.

"Push anything, until I get there."

Kuwabara paled, just as the ground began to split and give way beneath them.

"Kuwabara, you idiot!" Yusuke shouted.

"She couldn't have told us that sooner!" Kuwabara shouted back as they all fell into yawning darkness.

* * *

'I can't help wondering how that human managed to stay alive so long.' Kuronue hadn't been able to see where he was, so flying hadn't been easy, but finally he'd landed to find himself in an immense stone maze. He looked up, but flying now was out of the questions; the spikes Jin had mentioned weren't beneath them, they were above them, glowing moss covering most, if not all of them.

"Hellooo!" The shout came far to his right, blocked by stone, and belonged to Koto.

"Is there anyone with you?" He called back.

"No, Jury lost her grip on me, and no one landed near but you." She suddenly let out a shriek, hitting the wall from the thump Kuronue heard.

"Danger?"

"N...no, but there really are bats in here."

Kuronue sighted. 'I couldn't have landed near one of the others?' Kurama preferably. They had a long overdue conversation.

For the moment, he'd better go find Koto; he doubted Fay would like him letting her die.

He found her batting at a small bat, so he let his scythe fly, cutting it in two.

"You do know that was a bat, right?"

"So?" Since this was a dead end, Kuronue began heading back the way he'd come.

"Well, aren't you a bat demon?"

"That doesn't matter." What did matter at the moment was the echoing screech from above, and the large creature plunging down, claws open.

Koto screamed ducking behind Kuronue as he let his scythe fly.

* * *

'Oh hell.' Hitting the ground on his face was not his idea of a good landing. Standing, Yusuke looked around.

'Great, another maze. Too bad Kuwabara isn't here.' If he were, he could lead Yusuke out of this place, right after he took a well deserved beating.

"Hello?"

Jury peeked out from behind a turn in the corridor, sighing in relief when she saw him.

"Oh, it's you. I don't suppose you can tell how to get out of here?"

Jury shook her head. "No, and I heard this weird noise coming from over there." She pointed to where'd she'd come from.

"Well, did you check it out?" Yusuke asked.

"Of course not! The practical thing to do is to run away from strange noises!"

"That could've been one of the others!" Yusuke returned, annoyed.

"Well then why don't you go take a look!" Jury snapped.

"Fine, I will!" Yusuke stomped past her, muttering under his breath.

'I had to get stuck with him.' Jury thought in annoyance. She reluctantly followed, not willing to stay by herself again.

The path Yusuke followed was pretty straightforward. 'Take a left to get back.' He stopped as he reached a dead end.

'That's weird, this doesn't look at all like the rest of the walls.' While the stone walls behind and to his sides were a smooth dark grey, this one was craggy, with holds that he could probably use to scale up it.

'Not that'll do me any good.' The wall was pressed close to those spikes at the top, so if he scaled it, he'd still be stuck in this maze, just a little higher up.

Steps behind him let him know that Jury had followed, but since this was a dead end, it wasn't like he was worried.

"That looks different." She said.

"Yeah, still useless though,' Yusuke turned to head back. "Come on, we have to find the others."

"Wait,' Jury took a few steps closer. "What if it looks like that because the exit's on the other side?"

"Hu..." Yusuke paused, looking back at the wall. "You know what, that actually sounds smart."

Jury scowled, hands on hips. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out,' Yusuke returned to the wall, curling his hand into a fist and letting his energy gather there. "And stand back, this might be messy." He slammed his fist forward, striking the wall as hard as he could.

Small pieces of rubble rained down on him, but what made Jury scream in fright wasn't that, it was the enormous roar of pain that followed Yusuke's hit, and then the rock was moving, pulling back.

"What the hell's an eye doing inside a rock!" Yusuke jumped back, watching the rocky eyelid open fully, the eye centering on him. Then everything began to move as the titan stood, its arm reaching out to grab him.

"Run!" Yusuke whirled around and headed back the way they'd come, Jury already quite a distance away, her scream echoing back at him.

'She really puts on speed when it's convenient.'

"What the hell kind of idea was that? The exit being behind the rock!" He shouted at her.

"You couldn't have tapped it to see if it was hollow!" She shouted back.

"You couldn't have told me that before? When it mattered!" Yusuke ducked the titan's grab for his head, firing his spirit gun at the eye.

"You're making it madder!"

"What do you expect me to do, apologize and hand him a gift basket?" He shot back.

His attack hit, giving him a few moments to catch up to Jury as she took a left, and hit a wall.

"Where's the opening?" Yusuke hit the wall with a fist, but it was solid.

"Waaah!" Jury cried, falling to her knees. "I don't wanna die here with this idiot!"

"You ever take a look in the mirror?" Yusuke snapped. He slammed his fists into the stone wall over and over, the ground beneath them trembling as the titan neared.

"Come on open up, dammit!"


	66. Chapter 66: Crumbling Maze

Chapter 65: Crumbling Maze

"Hellooo!" Botan's voice echoed, but no one answered back.

"This place must be huge," Rinku said, walking next to Botan.

"I guess so, no one's answering." She looked up, wishing those spikes weren't there. 'If they weren't I could use my oar to search for the others.' But the spikes were there, so they had to walk.

"Well, I guess it's no use just standing here, come on." Botan started down a right passage. "We'll just have to look for them and hope we at least run into Kuwabara."

"Why him?" Rinku asked, hands behind his head. "It's not like he'd be much help if a monster attacked us." Most likely, Kuwabara would end up knocked out, leaving all the fighting to him.

"Kuwabara does try his best you know,' Botan chided. "And his sixth sense allows him to get through places like this without getting lost."

'So the big dufus is good for something,' Rinku thought. 'Too bad he's never around when he's actually needed.'

There was a soft click from beneath, followed by one of Botan's legs lowering slightly.

'Why don't I like the sound of that?' Gulping, Botan looked down to have her fears confirmed. She'd stepped on some kind of trap button.

"I think we better run the other way now!" Rinku started backing away as an ominous rumbling began, coming closer.

Botan screamed when she saw the boulder headed their way.

"Good idea, run!"

* * *

"You sure we're going the right way, mate?" Chu asked, scratching his neck. 'All this corridors look alike, how's the bloke telling where we're going?'

"I'm pretty sure we are." Kuwabara answered. He came to a stop as they reached a three way intersection.

"Which way then?"

"Hold on,' Kuwabara glanced to the right, but he got a really bad feeling in his gut, and he didn't think it was because that's the way the bad guy was.

"Come on, this way." He headed straight, almost positive that they'd find someone in that direction.

* * *

"I don't see how those seeds will help, especially with how big this place is." Suzuka said, following after Kurama.

"Perhaps it isn't as big as we think,' Kurama answered, dropping another seed. "Think; Isis said that vampires were gifted psychics, so isn't it possible that they're making us believe this place is larger than it actually is?"

Suzuka paused, thinking it over. "Okay, so let's say this place isn't that big and it is just an illusion. How's finding your seeds going to help us get out of here?"

"By breaking the illusion."

'If it is one.' Kurama thought to himself. He had a second theory of course, and if they didn't find his seeds, then he had a feeling they had little time to find the rest of their friends and the way out of here.

'I still don't see how the seeds will help us break an illusion.' Suzuka thought. Then again, Kurama's plants weren't ordinary; maybe he had something up his sleeve.

* * *

'I still can't believe that fall didn't kill me.' Shizuru thought glancing up at the spikes.

"Hey, Touya,' she looked back at him, wondering why he was just standing there. "I think we should go this way, I get the feeling we'll find some of the others."

His thoughts interrupted, Touya nodded, still half distracted. "Right, let's go."

'The walls are real enough; I'm starting to doubt this is an illusion.' But if it wasn't, then they were in more trouble than he'd thought.

* * *

"So this isn't an illusion?" Shishi asked the girl walking beside him.

Nina shook her head. "Shamans and illusions don't mix well. If I were inside one, I'd probably be asleep, half of me here and the other half out there, trying to get out of it." She pointed at the ghosts who were just barely visible to Shishi. "And they wouldn't be here at all."

"Then this maze is underground."

Nina nodded. "Yeah...well, we are in the maze." Though something still didn't add up.

They corridor soon split and they decided on a left, but ten minutes later, Nina wished they'd taken the right.

"Now what?" Shishi asked.

"Well, it's not like we have much of a choice. We turn around and head back."

"That may not be a choice anymore." Hayden said, looking back the way they'd come.

Nina and Shishi turned only to see a stone wall.

"Great,' Nina groused. "We're stuck in a box and the only way to go is up." She looked up at the spikes. "Or not."

Then the wall began to move, its shape warping into a towering sphinx. It growled, glowing eyes sending them a predatory stare.

Shishi grasped the hilt of his sword. "Remind me to beat Kuwabara the next time we see him."

"I'll put it on my planner." She replied, her tone going a little husky as Hayden merged with her.

* * *

"Sure ye're well?" Jin asked. The only other person he'd managed to find was Hiei, and when he'd tried his Jagan eye, he'd doubled over in pain. Now he stumbled slightly, his eyes half closed.

"I'm fine. You should be worrying about finding a way out of this maze. Otherwise we may well be stuck here forever."

"Aye, I wouldn't be wanting that to happen, but-"

Hiei shot him a glare over his shoulder. "I said I'm fine."

He wasn't of course, but hell would freeze over before he would admit it. Something had not only blocked his Jagan eye, it had attacked his mind, striking at his third eye from inside before Hiei could stop them; leaving him stumbling around half blind.

'Whoever he is, the moment I get out of this maze I will find and kill the fool.' He didn't for a second doubt that whoever had attacked him stood between them and Fay, so he wouldn't have to go looking too far.

Behind Hiei, Jin stopped. "Uhh...Hiei, I'm thinking you might not want to go that way."

Hiei paused. "And why not?"

"It's a dead end."

Hiei blinked his eyes, trying to clear them and surely enough there was a stone wall before him.

"So what, I'll just cut it down." Before he could unsheathe his sword, the ground beneath them began to tremble and the wall to thump. Recognizable voices from the other side reached their ears.

"It's Yusuke!" Jin shouted.

The thumping stopped. "Jin, you there?"

"Aye, Hiei too."

"Great, then help me tear down this wall!"

"Could you do it quickly, that thing's coming really close!" Jury wailed.

"Stand back both of you,' Hiei grasped his katana, using it to cut down the thick stone wall. It crumbled, letting Yusuke and Jury climb over the rubble.

"Thanks, now run!" Yusuke shouted as he jumped down.

Hiei sneered, "Running away from a fight detective?"

"No, I'm running away from that thing destroying the maze!"

"I'm thinking that might be a good idea." Jin could already see the walls crumbling, the ground parting as if it were water the titan was stepping through.

"But hey, if you want to find out what's beneath this maze, be my guest!" With their luck, it'd probably be monster infested waters.

Sheathing his katana, Hiei hurried after Jin and the other two, at least until his vision cleared completely. Then he'd take that thing down.

* * *

The large bat thumped to the floor, its head half off its shoulder.

Koto wrinkled her nose at the smell. 'Points for decapitation, or almost anyway.'

"Come on, let's go." Paying the large bat no attention now that it was dead, Kuronue headed back the way he'd come.

The strange gurgling sound from behind stopped him in his tracks.

"Uh…not to question your killing methods, but I don't think its dead." Koto said, edging away from the bat and bat demon.

The large bat was scrambling to its feet, the half torn head placing itself back on its head, as if someone had hit the rewind button.

It hissed down at Kuronue before it opened its mouth and let out a screech, one that was answered by several more from high up.

"As much as I like watching blood splatter, I think running would be good about now." Koto suggested helpfully.

"Leave if you want too." Kuronue said, most of his attention on the bat before him and those winging their way down to attack.

Koto ducked behind the corner to watch the massacre, most likely of Kuronue.

He sliced at the bats, letting his scythe fly expertly, his aim deadly, but what should have been killing blows weren't; the bat's just put themselves back together and kept attacking, over and over again.

'Well, I did warn him.' Koto thought, edging a little further back, just in case she needed to run.

* * *

The screaming was the first thing Kuwabara and Chu heard, followed by the sound of something large tumbling their way.

"Hey, it's Botan and Rinku!" Kuwabara exclaimed, glad to have found someone else. His smile soon vanished when he saw the stone rolling after them.

"Did you guys have to bring that along!" He couldn't use his spirit sword to cut it in half, it was too big.

"Chu!" Rinku shouted as they neared. "Try breaking it!"

"Yes, please do!" Botan added on a hurried breath.

"While you're doing that I'm just going to step really far back!" Kuwabara headed after the two who had just passed him while Chu smirked, cracking his knuckles.

"This shouldn't take long." He brought back his fist, running forward with a shout and slamming it against the stone. He could have sworn he heard some of his knuckles crack on impact, but he kept it at it, keeping the large round stone at bay. Chu's muscles bulged as he pushed harder, managing a step forward; finally, the boulder began to show tiny breaks, then large cracks ran up and around it until it collapsed into pieces.

"Alright, he did it!" Botan cheered, hurrying forward with Rinku and Kuwabara.

"Yeah but look at his hand, it's all bloody." Kuwabara said.

The back of Chu's hand had been scraped raw, blood streaming from it.

"Doesn't hurt much." Chu said, stretching his fingers.

"We can't have you bleeding all over the place," Botan scolded. "If you collapse, Kuwabara's going to have to carry you."

"Hey, why me?" Kuwabara demanded.

Chu sat while Botan used her healing ability to patch up his hand.

"I'm starting to wish I'd brought a first aid kit, this is going to need bandages."

"Perhaps I can be of service." Kurama and Suzuka approached from behind, startling them.

"I'm glad to see you guys are okay. I don't suppose you've run into any of the others?" Botan asked.

Kurama shook his head, unwrapping the gauze bandages in his hand.

"We haven't run into any of the seeds Kurama's been leaving either." Suzuka added.

"Seeds? What for?" Rinku asked.

"Just a theory." Kurama answered, wrapping the bandages around Chu's hand. "I find it hard to believe that this island is large enough to have such a massive subterranean structure beneath it; which leaves me to question if this is nothing more than illusion cast by one of the vampires."

"That doesn't make sense." Kuwabara said. "I mean, if this is all in our heads, how come we're all here together."

"Good question, which brings up my second theory." Finished wrapping Chu's hand, Kurama stood, gaze moving from one to another. "We've been transported to a modified level two battle field."

Botan paled. "So how do we get out of here?"

"If I remember right,' Chu said, testing his hand. "Isis mentioned something about a key."

"Didn't she call it a cornerstone?" Rinku asked, thinking back.

"How are we supposed to find that?" Kuwabara exclaimed in a panic. "She said that it could be pretty much anything in this place."

"And none of us work with rock." Botan sighted. The only person who she'd ever met that could, she hadn't liked from the beginning, that cheater.

"At the moment our priority is to find the rest of our friends." Kurama answered. "Once we have, we'll concentrate on finding a way out of here."

* * *

"This place has some really big bugs." Shizuru said backing away.

She'd led the way past where she could sense their nest was, but they must've caught their scent because the next thing they knew, the spiders had rushed out of the dark corridor, shooting streams of webbing at them.

Touya had deflected it with an ice shield, but the webbing had burned through it.

"Stay behind me, I'll take care of them." Touya said.

"No problem, but wouldn't we be better of trying to lose them?"

Touya glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "They'll just come after us and we'll eventually run into a dead end."

"Good point."

"Ice Blades!" The attack cut down the spiders, but soon enough their remains began to twitch, the pieces putting themselves back together.

"Still think you can beat them?"

Touya nodded. It would be harder but... As he watched, the middle spider began to absorb the other three, growing in size.

It hissed, pincers moving quickly as it launched itself at them, except it never got the chance.

"Spirit Gun!"

The blast struck it from behind, turning it into so much rubble, just as the ground beneath and the spiked ceiling above them began to tremble.

"Run!" Yusuke shouted as he rushed by.

"Unless you're wanting to be squashed by that!" Jin added, pointing back.

Wasting no time, Shizuru headed after them, Touya close at her heels.

"Why not fight it?" Touya asked Hiei.

"Good question; why don't you ask the detective."

"Have you seen the ceiling lately?" Yusuke called back. "You use your dragon attack and it'll bring everything down on us." And being buried in this place wasn't his idea of a good way to go.

"If we could blind it,' Touya suggested. "We might be able to bring it down."

"If we blind it, it'll stumble around, bringing the ceiling down on us anyway." Hiei said, his tone suggesting that that should be obvious.

Although his vision had cleared, even he had to admit that attacking the titan wouldn't be in their best interest. It was too big to bring down without killing themselves.

"This way." Shizuru veered right, the others following her lead. Behind them, a growl, much like that of a large cat was heard; seconds later Nina and Shishi ran out of one of the passages, a large sphinx, though nowhere near as large as the titan, behind them.

"Did you have to bring that along?" Jury wailed.

"We killed it...once,' Nina explained on a rushed breath. "I took off the legs and Shishi the neck, but humpty dumpty put himself back together again, absorbed the walls and got bigger!"

"Great, so everything here's made out of rock that eats rock." Yusuke said sarcastically. "I'm so glad we have the advantage!"

He suddenly screeched to a halt when a large figure tumbled through one of the stone walls, tumbling end over end.

He jumped to the side along with the others as the creature slammed into the sphinx, which caused the sphinx to tumble back, right into the legs of the titan, who stumbled away, immense arms wheeling.

"That won't keep them for long." Kuronue hurried through the broken wall, Koto peering out.

"Koto!" Jury waved, her breath short.

"Save the hellos for later, move it!" Shizuru said, passing Koto.

"Right behind you." Although Koto liked watching blood splatter, she'd prefer if it wasn't hers, under the foot of that thing.

Kuronue remained behind, taking one last look at the creatures before he headed after his friends.

"Any ideas come to mind?" Touya asked him.

"Yes,' Kuronue answered. "Find Kurama and then a way out of here." Knowing his friend, he already had the beginnings of a plan in mind.

"I thought you might say that." Touya had been thinking along the same lines.

"We can't keep running forever!" Jury wailed. "My legs aren't meant for this type of running!"

"Over here!" Botan waved at them, peering from a left turn. Her face suddenly paled as she caught sight of the monsters after them.

"Did you have to bring those things along?" she cried out in panic.

"It's not like they gave us much choice!" Yusuke shouted, veering left.

"Well why didn't you get rid of them!" Botan demanded, jumping up on her oar.

"That's not a choice right now, okay! Now start running! Don't make me have to rescue you!"

"You'll be the one needing rescuing if you don't speed up, Yusuke." Botan said, passing him on her oar.

She led them down a long passage; took two lefts, a right, and then headed straight, right to where the rest of her group was waiting.

Seeing them approach, Kurama concentrated, his sight set on the creatures. 'A little closer.'

"Whatever you're planning on doing, do it now Kurama!" Hiei ordered, coming to halt next to him.

"Kurama, right now!" Yusuke shouted.

'Now!' Kurama sent his energy into the seeds he'd spread out, commanding them to burst into life. The vines quickly sprung up, wrapping around the sphinx, the large bat, and the legs of the titan; but even then the thick vines could only reach up to its arms, pulling it down and giving the titan no choice but to hunch.

'It's eye.' The iris of the titan's eye glittered like a black gem.

"The cornerstone." Hiei said.

"The what?" Yusuke asked glancing down at him.

Hiei glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "Don't you remember what Isis said? The cornerstone is the key to a level II battle field; break it and we can leave."

"Oh, yeah. I remember her saying something like that." He raised his arm, his forefinger poised like a gun. "The eye, right?"

Kurama nodded. "You only have one shot at this, Yusuke. Make it count."

His vines were already snapping under the pressure put upon them, and while Kurama had made sure that their meeting place had enough escape routes for everyone, he'd rather they finish this now.

"Don't worry, I won't miss." Yusuke waited for an opportunity, and when the titan paused in its struggling, he took his shot. "Spirit Gun!"

The titan moved at that moment, but not enough to save it from the blast that took out half its eye, shattering half the cornerstone.

"Hell yeah!" Yusuke grinned. "Now stay down you-' his eyes suddenly widened. "It's gonna fall right on top of us!"

They spread out, but just as they did, the world warped around them.

* * *

The music he was listening to ended, unfortunately signaling that their uninvited guests would be arriving soon. Skirron took the head phones off, reluctantly getting to his feet.

'Skirron do that, Skirron do this, Skirron go get rid of the intruders by your lonesome self.' So what if he was the only one in the Vampire Faction who could call forth summons, or summon at all? That didn't mean he was invincible. Besides the stronger the summons were, the less of them he could call forth. From the information a sprite had gathered on his behalf, this group was dangerous, their powers nothing to laugh at, so he doubted a few low level summons would bring them all down.

'I could always use illusion to turn then against each other.' Then again, they had that fox with them and according to the sprite's report, he wasn't easily fooled and was merciless if crossed.

'Probably already has some kind of tactic in store just in case I try illusion.' Not to mention some painful way to get rid of him.

'Okaaay, illusion's out.' Which left summoning a few beings to take them on, but while Skirron was no pushover, summoning strong beings took energy, lots of energy. 'Leaving me with less than half to defend myself with.' Which brought him to plan C; he liked that plan, it meant the others could damn well do their share of fighting.

* * *

"Well, if this is a battle field, at least it's pretty." Botan said, looking around in wonder.

They were in a large hall made entirely out of glass, and on the other side tropical fish were everywhere.

"Figures vampires would be exhibitionists,' Yusuke murmured. "Okay, whoever's going to get his ass kicked first, get out here now!"

"And I want the fool who tried to blind me to show himself,' Hiei said. "So that I can remove his head from his shoulders."

"And on a side note,' Nina added dryly. "Where's Fay?"

"You guys are so noisy, and I've been here all along."

The group turned to see a tall blond slouching against the wall behind them.

'I couldn't sense him.' Kurama thought. 'It seems Isis's information was correct.'

He stepped forward. "You know why we're here; hand Fay over and we may yet spare your life."

Skirron shrugged. "Sorry, but I can't do that. You see, we kind of need her for a little problem we've got, and she should be fixing it right now. Meanwhile,' he straightened. "My name's Skirron, and since you, unfortunately, survived our trap; I'll be taking on whoever's left."

"What do you mean 'whoever's left?" Kuronue asked, readying his scythe.

"Just that,' he snapped his fingers. "This is another type of maze, and we'll be separating you again."

"The hell you will!" Yusuke rushed forward, intending to knock Skirron out, but there a small click from beneath and the next thing he knew, Skirron was gone and he was stumbling to a stop just before he hit the glass wall.

'What the hell?' He looked back, but besides Kurama, no one else was there.

"Please don't tell me this is an illusion."

Kurama shook his head, studying the ground. "The symbols on the ground seem to act as teleporters. We've been transported to another part of their compound, just as most of the others surely have."

"Okay, so what do we do now? Go look for everyone else...again?"

"No,' Kurama said, walking past. "We find Fay, and bring down anyone in our path."

"Right, sounds like a plan." Yusuke already knew the others could take care of themselves; they'd probably end up having to fight the other members of the Faction.

'Just hope those girls didn't end up on their own.' They already had one girl to rescue; they didn't need to add to it.

* * *

"You dumb trickster!" Kuwabara growled. "Whatever you did with my friends, they better not be hurt!"

'Oh, look, I got the idiot,' Skirron glanced at the boy. 'And a little boy, this day's definitely starting to look up.'

"I didn't hurt your friends,' Skirron answered Kuwabara. "I just sent them all too different parts of this place. However I can't say they'll stay unhurt, especially if they come across someone else from my faction."

"I'll have you know that our friends have kicked down guys a lot tougher than you." Rinku said, unrolling his yoyos. "Just like I'm going to kick you down."

"He's mine!" Kuwabara materialized his spirit sword, cutting off Rinku's charge. "So you just stay back and watch me beat him so bad, even kittens won't look at him."

"More like mess up and have your face rearranged" Rinku countered, trying to sidestep Kuwabara.

"You stay out of this,' Rinku grinned, looking at Skirron. "I'll take care of the big bully."

"I said I was going first!" Kuwabara yelled down at Rinku.

"And I said you should just leave him to me,' Rinku returned. "It'll save you the trouble of embarrassing yourself!"

"Uhh...I'm still here." Skirron tried to interrupt, half raising his hand.

"You little punk! I'll show you embarrassed! I'll embarrass you so much you'll start using that hat of yours like a mask!" Kuwabara continued, ignoring Skirron.

"Oh yeah!" Rinku took a threatening step toward Kuwabara. "Why don't you try proving it, you big dufus! I bet I can make you go crying to your sister! Who'll beat you up for being a crybaby!"

Skirron coughed, clearing his throat. "You guys do know you're supposed to be allies, right?"

Kuwabara and Rinku turned to him, both glaring. "Shut up, this doesn't concern you!"

Skirron sweat dropped, his eye twitching. 'And this people defeated a Magus and two Factions?" he covered his face. 'How embarrassing.'

He was starting to wish someone else had ended up staying to face him, someone serious.

* * *

AN: Thanks to those leaving reviews, they're much appreciated. The next chapter should be up by Friday.


	67. Chapter 67: Game

Chapter 66: Game

"Hold on, where'd everyone go off too again!" Jin exclaimed, whipping his head one way then another. His surroundings hadn't changed by much, except that now there were several glass pillars supporting the ceiling.

"Hold on there stranger,' a shadow stepped out from behind the furthest pillar, materializing into what Jin would bet was one of the vampires…with a funny looking hat.

"No need to go and panic just yet." The vampire tipped his hat up with a finger, showing mismatched eyes. "Your friends just got a little scattered, but I'm sure they're as right as rain...for now."

Jin's eyes narrowed. "My friends'll be fine; it'll be your pals who get beat up, so maybe you're the one who's wanting to start worrying."

The vampire chuckled, tilting his head in acknowledgement. "Maybe. Guess we'll find out at the end of this, won't we stranger."

"Aye,' Jin said. "We'll be seeing then, but for now, I'll be making you tell me where you're keeping Fay!"

"The little lady's fine, should be taking a few lessons from our High Priest right about now." He took two steps forward. "The name's Zephyr, and if Skirron's Intel is correct, you're Jin."

"Aye." Jin acknowledged.

"Well then, Jin. You'd best be listening careful like to what I'm about to say, your friends'll be depending on it. Now, our home here's another maze, but unlike the last one ya'll was in, this one's game is a little different."

"Game?" Jin questioned.

"Just like I said; what we've got here's a bit of a game. Orpheus very deliberate-like chose two of your friends to send to the heart of the maze. The problem is they'll be going round in circles until one of ya'll defeats one of us. If ya'll happen to manage it, then one of them glass walls will disappear, leading your friends closer to the little lady. And before you say that they can just tear down the wall,' Zephyr shook a finger. "They can't. Not without knowing if they'll be bringing down one of them walls that keeps tons of water at bay. You understand what I'm saying, Jin?"

"Aye, I understand well enough,' Jin said, a small frown on his lips. He had to go over the vampire's words slowly to make sense of all of them. "But you sure got a funny way of talking."

Zephyr paused in whatever he was going to say next, his eyebrows rising.

"Begging your pardon but; this coming from the demon with an Irish accent?"

Jin bristled. "Now what's that supposed to mean? My words are perfectly understandable, so they are!"

Zephyr's eye twitched but he resisted the urge to argue the point. Instead he tilted his hat down. "The way we talk ain't why we're here, stranger. We're here cause Orpheus has gone up and decided he wants to keep the little lady. Seeing as he's the boss, I've got no choice but to go along with it."

"Aye, and I'm having to help my friends get to where ye're keeping Fay."

Their surroundings began to change, settling into an abandoned western town at night.

"I'd prefer dawn or noon, but seeing as the sunlight'll kill me, I'll settle for this." Zephyr reached for his guns just as Jin called on his wind, stirring the dirt beneath them.

'Yusuke and Kurama are counting on me, so I can't be holding back.' His arm quickly gained speed until a tornado spun around it.

"Tornado Fist!" He flung the attack at Zephyr, who raised his gun, cocked it, and fired; except that instead of a bullet hurling from it, the gun sucked in Jin's wind, startling him.

"What was that!" Jin demanded in surprise, moving back from Zephyr.

"Right, forgot to tell yah,' Zephyr pulled his hat up with the tip of his gun. "My guns here absorb most elements, wind being one of 'em." He smirked, looking up at Jin. "So ya'll better be good at thinking quick like, if yah want to leave this hoedown alive."

Jin returned the smirk. "Never said I mind a challenge,' besides, he had an ace up his sleeve. "Ready or not, here I come." He launched himself down, preparing his next attack.

* * *

'So that's how they arranged this brawl.' Not long after Chu had appeared in this place, Vesper had shown himself, first cursing Skirron for being lazy, and then letting him know how this maze worked.

"Fair enough." Chu said, flexing his muscles. "Just a warning mate, this means I can't play around with yah. That bloke Urameshi isn't one for patience. Kurama may be, but not when he's got a sheila to apologize too."

Vesper let out a short bark of laughter. "We haven't even started and your already assuming you'll win,' he shook a finger at Chu. "If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure."

Chu smirked. "But you're not me now are yah?"

Vesper opened his mouth, paused, then snorted out a laugh. "Okay, I walked into that one." He snapped his fingers and the world around them changed, becoming a grass plain at night surrounded by mountains in the distance.

"But I'll have you know I am confident about my win,' he shrugged off his leather jacket and took a boxer's stance. "And if you're not going to play around then neither will I."

Chu grinned, moving into his own fighter's stance and taking a step forward just as Vesper did.

'Now this is my kind of a blue, a shame I didn't bring a couple of knifes with me.' The two circled each other slowly until, at some signal only they knew off, they rushed each other, fists flying.

* * *

A dungeon. That was the battle field that Kuronue had been transported to seconds after arriving. The one he was facing, Caecius, had then shown himself, giving him a brief explanation of what would happen...if Kuronue managed to defeat him.

"In that case,' Kuronue launched his scythe at the vampire, only to have him disappear. "I won't waste any time." He pulled back the scythe, whirling it around over his head as he searched for Caecius. The fact that he couldn't sense, hear or smell him, made it more difficult to pin the vampire down. His chain suddenly struck an obstacle and slammed down to his left. Kuronue looked up just in time to avoid the thick chain headed his way.

"Know that I won't either." Caecius's words echoed in the dungeon to an accompaniment of dozens of silver chains jingling as they appeared from the darkness, intent on capturing Kuronue, who had little choice but to go on the defensive, deflecting the chains he couldn't dodge with his scythe.

Kuronue knew he couldn't keep this up forever, he had to find where Caecius hid, but searching out the vampire and blocking the chains was proving almost impossible. And then one of the chains finally managed to grab onto his foot, making him stumble.

'Damn!' Kuronue caught himself, raising the scythe to break the chain, but another captured his right hand, while more chained his left hand and foot.

As Kuronue struggled to free himself from them, the chains raised him up to dangle in the air, and Caecius finally revealed himself, looking up at Kuronue with a triumphant glint in his eyes.

"In the past, they used to stretch a man with ropes until his body was torn to pieces. I prefer chains of course, but the result is the same nonetheless."

Kuronue resisted the tug of the chains, struggling to free himself.

"If you think something as small as the threat of dismemberment will stop me from killing you, think again." Kuronue grunted as the chains tugged harder. He wouldn't die, not like this, and not any time soon.

Caecius shrugged. "I don't usually care for making another suffer, but if that's your preference; then who am I to get in the way of another's last wish."

* * *

Whatever part of this place he'd been sent too, it was darker, the fish on the other side looked even stranger, but that was of little importance to Hiei, what mattered was the vampire that had appeared out of thin air on the other side of the dark corridor.

"So you're the one I'm supposed to kill,' he unsheathed his katana. "But before I do, I want to know who the hell dared to blind me."

The vampire stopped, mismatched glowing eyes staring at him without a hint of emotion.

"My Master wishes you to know that what you suffered from was a reflective spell."

The words came out of nowhere and Hiei couldn't pinpoint where exactly it was coming from, but he had a feeling that once he managed to do so, he'd be a step closer to defeating this vampire.

"So the one who blinded you, Hiei,' the deep voice continued. "Was you."

Hiei scoffed. "And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Believe it or not, that hardly matters to my Master, what does matter is the following." The echoing voice told him how the maze worked, and what he had to do.

"Ha!" Hiei smirked. "So all I have to do is kill you, easy enough!" He launched himself at the vampire, but an unseen force struck him like a fist to his whole body, painfully throwing him back.

"You lack manners, Hiei. My Master, Aquilon, will signal the beginning of this battle."

The dark space around them morphed, becoming a stone ring floating in a night sky. Hiei stood up, sword in hand.

"So now that you've chosen your gravesite, are you ready to die?" Hiei mocked.

"You are the one who shall rest here, Hiei." The voice countered. "Strike when you are ready."

Hiei didn't wait for the voice to finish, he rushed forward, attacking Aquilon from above, but the force was there, slamming into him once more and sending him flying.

He landed on his feet and on instinct rolled away, barely avoiding being crushed into the ground. 'Whatever this thing is, I can't sense it. It doesn't even make a sound.'

Hiei moved across the floor rapidly, aiming for Aquilon. 'But what I do know is that he's the one controlling it!'

That force was suddenly between Hiei and Aquilon, grabbing and squeezing him so that Hiei cried out involuntarily.

"Surrender." The voice said.

Hiei gritted his teeth, glaring balefully down at Aquilon. "You'll have to kill me first!"

The grip on him tightened painfully.

"Then so be it; remember that you are the one who requested your demise."

Hiei fought against the pressure, trying to break his way free. Already uncovered, his Jagan eye opened, searching for whatever was trying to squeeze the life out of him, but couldn't make anything definite out, just the slight stirring of air.

'I'll damned if I go out this way!' He just had too...had too... His eyes suddenly widened as he came to a realization.

'I'm waiting for her.' Without realizing it, he'd become so used to Fay's presence appearing at times like this that he'd been holding back, listening for her. It angered him, that he'd come to rely on her for help.

'I don't need help, especially not hers!' He screamed, muscles working against the grip the invisible hand had on him. "And I won't lose to the likes of you!" His power surged, breaking the invisible grip and allowing him to land on the ground.

Inside, he was a little surprised at how much power had answered his call; all he had to do was...synchronize with it.

'So her foolish toy was useful after all.'

"Whatever it is that's protecting you, it won't for long." He warned Aquilon, who stared back at him silently.

'Another silent one, and this one I will kill.' Hiei started unwrapping the binding on his arm, dodging when the wind stirred.

"Is that all your little toy can do?" Hiei mocked. "Try to hit me and hope it gets lucky?"

"Unfortunately, my true powers were locked away when the curse was set on the vampires." The voice said. "But that curse will soon be lifted and by no one else but the one you're here to retrieve."

Hiei dropped the bandages to the ground, eyes narrowed. "That's a lie; Fay would never agree to break your curse."

"She doesn't know about this part of the curse, all Fay knows is that she is lifting our banishment from the sun, and that once it is done, we will let her go."

"Let me guess,' Hiei drawled cynically. "You lied to her."

The voice didn't answer this time, but that in itself was answer enough for him.

_'Is that why you aren't responding?'_ Hiei thought to her. He couldn't touch Fay's mind at all, it was as if she simply didn't exist in this world.

"If she's hurt-"

"We would not hurt her, she is fine, but you will never set eyes on her again."

"We'll see about that." Black fire burst into life, enveloping his arm.

"Dragon of the Darkness Flame!"

The dragon enveloped Aquilon in its flames, eclipsing him from view, but when the attack finally abated, he still stood there, without a single burn.

'What!' Hiei's surprise was written on his face, though it quickly changed to one of anger.

"How the hell did you survive that?"

"A vampire can only be killed by another of his own race. There is no other way."

"Excuse me if I find that a little hard to believe." Hiei retorted. Every opponent he'd faced, no matter how strong, had a weakness. Sometimes it was simply a little harder to find.

Gaze intent, he inspected Aquilon from head to toe, noting the tattoo, but besides that, there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"You may attack all you want, but in the end, it will be you who shall fall."

Aquilon started forward and Hiei prepared himself for the attack.

'Attacking without a weakness will be a waste of time.' He went on the defense, doing his best to scan for an opening, a weakness he hadn't seen before, and that's when he remembered what Isis had told them about the vampires.

"_Thanks to that curse on them it's as if they're phantoms; they're real selves aren't all there."_

'The curse.' If what Isis had said was correct, and despite her laziness and his dislike of her, he doubted she'd been mistaken... 'Then Fay breaking the curse on the vampires is the only way to beat them.'

Hiei attacked, slashing at the invisible enemy, trying to get close to Aquilon. 'So I do need her.' As much as that galled him, for the moment he had no other choice.

'_Fay, if you can hear me; break that damn curse now!'_

* * *

"All these corridors look the same; I don't suppose you know where we are?" Botan asked the one leading them, Nina.

She shook her head. "No, but I sent Hayden, Gunnarr, and Iliana to take a look around. Hopefully they'll find a way."

It had taken a few twists and turns for all the girls to find each other, but once they had, Nina had come to the realization that... Those stupid vampires obviously thought that all the girls were just tagging along and no threat to them!

'La! How dare they underestimate me! I'm a Shaman, not some helpless little girl!' And she'd show them that! The glass walls may be able to contain those with physical bodies, but her ghosts didn't have those. They'd find a way through and Nina was going to find Fay and steal her right from under those vampires' big noses!

'That'll show them!'

"Hey." Shizuru speaking interrupted Nina's revenge filled plans, and she glanced over to where the girl had stopped.

"You find something?"

Shizuru stood in front of another glass wall, the only difference with this one was that it was filled with those strange runes they'd encountered before.

"What do you think they all mean?" Jury asked, tenderly touching the wall.

"Can you read them?" Botan asked Nina who shook her head.

"They remind me a little of Celtic runes, just more elegant in structure." They flowed, as if it was in cursive, but other than that the writing was completely alien to her.

"Too bad, I have a feeling that this tells us something important." Shizuru touched the wall, sliding her hands down the words. Something clicked beneath her palm, and the door began to slide open, revealing another corridor leading down.

"What do you know." Nina peeked in, searching for an ambush or traps, but the coast seemed clear.

"Come on, I bet this leads us to Fay."

Koto, Jury, and Botan followed Nina down, but when Botan glanced back, Shizuru was still standing at the entrance.

"Shizuru? Is something wrong?"

The other three stopped, looking back.

"I...think so.' Shizuru said. "There's...something bad down there. I get the feeling that whatever it is, it's dangerous to Nina and me."

Shivering, Jury backed up. "Maybe we shouldn't go down there. That writing might have been a warning."

"Whatever it is, I can take care of it." Nina said, tone confident. "My three ghosts will find us soon, and I can have them look ahead before we move on. And if we find whatever's down here and its evil, I'll take care of it."

Being a Shaman, she could sense the vibes coming from beneath, but it wasn't all bad.

Shizuru hesitated a moment longer before finally heading down the corridor.

"Fine, but if we do end up dead, I'll never let you hear the end of it."

"Duly noted." Nina replied.

* * *

Their surroundings were wholly unexpected. Shishi, Touya and Suzuka had expected to land in one of the corridors, someone from the Vampire Faction there to face them.

Instead they found themselves in a large room in which glass had been carved to resemble climbing vines laden with flowers on the walls. The glass walls themselves were intricately cut to depict trees and mountains. The room was filled with glass cases and pedestals in which delicate china pottery had been placed; from bases filled with blossoms to sculptures of dolls.

'This is unexpected.' Touya thought.

"So what do they want us to do here?" Suzuka said. "Admire their antique collection?"

Shishi grasped the hilt of his sword. "Someone's coming." It wasn't because he who could sense them, but because he heard the tinkle of glass coming from the only break in the wall leading to another room.

The trio tensed, ready for battle, but what came through the door took them entirely by surprise.

A young slender woman with long dark violet hair and pale green eyes stepped in, wearing a violet dress, while in her hands she held a tray laden with sweets. She was striking, but Touya supposed that since the male vampires had such an effect on females, then he supposed it worked the other way around as well.

"Don't tell me you're the one we're supposed to fight?" Suzuka asked incredulous.

The young woman shook her head. "No, of course not. I wouldn't know how to go about fighting anyway." Her accent was peculiar, sounding like Botan's but more accented and refined.

"Then why are we here?" Shishi demanded.

"Well,' she put the tray down on a round glass table before facing them. "I would say that you were brought here to keep you out of the way of the other fights." She gestured to chairs. "Please sit down and I will explain what I was told."

The three glanced at each other, but since there was little they could do without information or a plan, they hesitantly took seats around the table.

"Oh, I do apologize, I forgot to introduce myself,' the young woman bowed. "My name is Seline."

The trio introduced themselves, still cautious of any tricks.

Seline smiled warmly, setting out cake and tea for them. "It's very nice to meet all of you; it's been quite a while since I was visited by anyone but my brothers or someone else from my Faction."

"Are you a prisoner then?" Touya asked.

Seline shrugged. "Self imprisonment, actually."

"Why?" Suzuka asked, giving the tea and cake a suspicious glance.

Seline let out a long sad sigh. "Well, because it's safest; for my Faction and humans in general."

"I thought you said you weren't a fighter." Shishi said, eyes narrowed in distrust.

"First I will tell you what I was told by Zephyr." She explained how the maze worked. "Only if one of your friends looses will one of you be able to leave this place."

Touya was about to ask what had happened to the girls, but at the last second changed his mind. Seline's words about humans gave him a very bad feeling.

"Since it doesn't seem we can do anything about our situation,' for now. "Why not tell us what you meant by being safest for you to stay here." Touya said.

Seline nodded, looking as if she were bracing herself for something unpleasant.

"More than anything, my brothers wish to break the curse on us for my sake. You see, when first this curse was set upon us, forcing us to seek out blood in order to live, it wasn't...settled. It took ten years for that to happen, and my brothers wished for me to live as normal a life as possible. I was at a party with over two thousand guests when the curse finally took full effect." She glanced away unwilling to look them in the eye.

"It didn't hit anyone else as hard as it hit me. Suddenly I was hearing the heartbeat of all those guests; I could smell the blood coursing through their veins. I saw red, and for a very long time that was my world. When I came too, I was inside a cage, chains attached to my neck, arms, and legs. From what I was told, I went on a rampage; killing people left and right as I tore them open to get at their blood. I became a monster who cared about nothing but blood. None of the guests survived, and I not only wounded Orpheus gravely, I killed two of our members that day."

Death had been a part of Touya's life for a long time, being a shinobi, it was inevitable. He'd seen countless die, many by his hand, though never without a reason, so her story didn't make as big an impact as it did on Suzuka, who clearly paled.

"So if we had been human..." Touya trailed off as Seline nodded, finally looking at them.

"I would have torn you apart, limb by limb. It is not as if I want to do it. The bloodlust just hits me and I turn into a monster. That is why I have confined myself to this place, and many others like it over the centuries. And it is why my brothers want the little lady to end our curse."

"Little lady?" Shishi asked.

"Oh...I'm sorry, you call her Fay." Seline explained.

'Where'd they get little lady from?' Suzuka thought. Those weren't the words he would have used to describe Fay.

"Then there's more reason for you to let us go." Touya said. "If we can explain to the others why Orpheus took Fay..." He trailed off when Seline shook her head.

"It would end in a battle anyway, for you see; my brother has decided to keep Fay."

"Let me guess,' Shishi said. "He wants to use her power to take over the world."

"Of course not,' Seline said, indignant. "My brother doesn't care about world domination. He cares about freeing our family from this curse, and now he cares about keeping Fay with him."

"Why?" Suzuka asked. "I'll admit to Fay being pretty, but once you get to know her..." He wasn't exactly sure what Jin, Kuronue, and Kurama saw in her. He much preferred her as a friend.

"Well...' Seline tilted her head to the side thinking. "It may be that she's the first female to ever refuse Orpheus...and break a chair over his head."

Touya couldn't help smirking. 'That sounds like her.' It was good to know that she seemed to have recovered.

"So you expect us to stay here and wait with our arms crossed, having a tea party while our friends fight, and maybe kill, your family?" Shishi asked incredulously.

Seline's shoulders slumped. "I know you may not like it, but there is little other choice. I don't know the way out of this place, that's Orpheus." She suddenly stood. "But if not knowing the fate of your friends is what worries you, then I can help in that." She gestured with a hand at the walls.

Images flared to life on its surface. It was like watching several channels on a large T.V; each depicted a fight between a vampire and someone from their group.

"There,' Seline said, sounding proud to have helped. "Now you can watch."

'It's better than nothing.' Touya thought. For the moment, they would watch and wait. He was fully confident that his friends could beat the vampires, and now he was hoping Fay could break their curse, before Seline caught the scent of their human friends.


	68. Chapter 68: Weakening Curse

Chapter 67: Weakening Curse

AN: Took me long enough to get back to this story. If anyone's still reading this, sorry for the long wait. !^^ Anyway this time I'm determined to finish this story. So wish me luck.

* * *

Chu and Vesper attacked each other, circled, struck again. Neither was focusing on defense, only offence and soon enough, they both had bruises and split lips and thanks to his pale skin, Vesper looked as if he'd taken a worse pounding.

"That all you got mate?" Chu taunted with a grin. "Your fists feel like soft baby punches."

"I might actually believe that if your face wasn't starting to resemble a beaten egg plant." Vesper retorted, shaking out his fists before attacking again just as Chu did.

They continued on, neither giving way, each trying to knock the other out with their next strike before putting distance between each other.

'This' bloke's not bad after all,' Chu thought, wiping blood from his lip. Chu had already drunk everything he'd had with him, including Ogre killer. For a few minutes, he'd gained the upper hand against Vesper, only to trip when the drink had decided to come back and say hello. Vesper had put a wide distance between them, holding his nose closed and breathing heavily through his mouth, until Chu had finished. They had continued their fight then, but Chu had lost his advantage.

Chu charged Vesper again, who met him blow for blow, but this time Chu packed each punch with energy, giving them more force. The first three caught Vesper by surprise, giving Chu the opportunity to attack in earnest, but when he would have finished him off, Vesper caught himself and returned the attack. This time, it was Chu who was caught off guard. Vesper's uppercut was packing his energy, but unlike Chu, it exploded on contact, causing more damage than Chu's own attack had done.

Chu hit the ground with a grunt and climbed to his feet, rubbing a jaw that had almost broken.

"Never seen that move before, thought you weren't holding back on me, bludger."

Vesper scoffed. "I could say the same for you."

"Right you are, guess I just couldn't resist warming up."

"Riiiight,' Vesper drawled. "So what do you call real fighting? Falling down on your butt every few seconds?"

Chu laughed. "I'll tell you what, we stop playing like a couple of ankle biters, and if I beat yah, you teach me that trick of yours."

Vesper scoffed. "That doesn't sound like a fair trade!" He dodged as Chu attacked, his punch hitting the ground with enough force to make a crater.

"Right, then that's the deal."

"I never agreed to that deal, but fine, if,' Vesper stretched out the word. "You can actually manage to defeat me, I'll consider it."

So they came at each other again, Vesper manipulating his energy so that every time he struck, there would be a miniature explosion that burned and tore at Chu's flesh, while Chu used his energy to make the impact of his attacks stronger.

Still, by the time they moved away, it was obvious that Chu was taking double the damage that Vesper was.

'Can't remember the last time I bled this much.' Not even Yusuke had caused this much damage to his skin.

There was a sudden gasp from Vesper, and the vampire's knees hit the grass as he clutched his chest.

Chu doubted this was a delayed reaction to his attacks so he approached the vampire, only to pause when the sun began to rise on the horizon.

'This bloke's about to get a serious sunburn.' Chu would have warned Vesper, but the vampire was back on his feet, his face to the rising sun...a sun that did nothing to burn him.

"It's been such a long time since I felt this." Vesper said, eyes closed. "She did it; the little lady actually broke my curse." He was the first, he could feel it, but little by little Fay was unraveling the curse set on them.

"I take it you mean Fay." Chu said.

Vesper nodded, curling his hand into a fist. "And this is really where the fun begins."

Instead of trying to attack, Chu jumped to the side when Vesper struck, then slammed a leg against the vampire's stomach. Vesper went down, his fist hitting the ground, but the moment it did, it exploded in a golden fiery blast that changed pieces of dirt into glass.

'Strewth! If that had touched me I'd be BBQ right now.' Chu didn't enjoy the thought.

"Not all vampires could do this, before we were banished from the sun." Vesper said, swiftly getting to his feet. "But those in my Faction could always do so,' he opened a palm; revealing what looked like gold and red fire mixed in excessive temperatures, sitting on his hand. "And thus we were once called the children of the sun."

'One blow from that and I'll be missing more than a limb.' Chu knew he was almost out of energy, and although Vesper somehow looked more…tangible now than he had before, Chu doubted he could take him down with one punch.

'Which leaves me one choice...' A shame he hadn't quite mastered it.

He went on the offensive, keeping his distance from Vesper while searching his memory, trying to remember what it was that had caused that surge of power in him while fighting the demon faction.

'_Fay gave me a hand up, but I'm standing on my own.' _Rinku's words had struck a chord in Chu then. 'Damn thing is, I can't remember.'

He remembered Fay clearly, how could he not. 'A shame; that one would have made a heck of a demon.' It was an image of her smiling up at him, but as he dodged another of Vesper's sun blasts, her expression changed to the one she'd worn when Rinku, Shishi and he had found her out in the snow.

Chu slowed, stopped. 'I remember now.' As much as he was enjoying this brawl, if he didn't end it soon, Yusuke and Kurama couldn't make Fay smile again.

"Done running around?" Vesper taunted, coming to halt feet from Chu.

"Unfortunately for you, bloke, I am." Chu called on that same power he'd felt once before, grinning when it responded. "And this is where I really get serious."

"Good to know." Vesper's arms became engulfed in fire and as he charged, so did Chu, though he suddenly disappeared, making Vesper halt, scanning the area for Chu, at least until a shadow from above caught his eye.

"One Hundred Strikes!"

Vesper had no time to avoid the attack. It hit him head on, knocking him unconscious by the twentieth strike so that he lost control of the fire he'd called, causing an explosion that engulfed both Chu and Vesper. The explosion only dispersed when the battle field went down, leaving them in the glass corridor once more.

With an effort, Chu got to his feet, ignoring the burned skin and sweat covering his body. His clothes were in tatters, but he was grinning. "Must've had the cornerstone on yah, eh, bloke." Chu involuntarily stumbled back.

"Hey you bludgers!" He shouted. "I won, so yah better drop that wall!" Finally, his strength deserted him, and he dropped to the ground in exhaustion.

* * *

The more he struggled, the harder the chains pulled at his body. Kuronue was beginning to feel a burning coming from his muscles, and all the while the vampire, Caecius, stared up at him with what could be called mild disinterest. The vampire suddenly let out a whispery bark of laughter. "You look like a bat trapped in the corner of a ceiling." It was somewhat amusing to Caecius, but what was more so was that no matter how much the bat demon struggled, he would never break the chains. All that would happen was that Caecius would have to move further away so he wouldn't be sprayed by blood. His nose wrinkled at that. 'The smell's not going to help either.'

"This coming from a vampire,' Kuronue scoffed despite the pain his body was beginning to feel. "A cowardly one at that."

Caecius shrugged, as if the words didn't faze him, which they didn't. He may be a vampire but his talents ran towards speed and stealth, not mortal combat. The chains were about the only ability he was left with after they had been denied the sun, not that his locked abilities ran towards mortal combat either... "I hope you don't mind, but there are three more of your friends that I'm going to have to deal with, so I'm going to have to kill you. Now." He made the vaguest of gestures with his hand and the chains pulled.

Kuronue braced himself, letting out a cry of pain when the chains began to tug in earnest. They didn't dismember him on the first try but it wasn't for lack of trying. He gritted his teeth, his mind racing to find a way to escape his bonds. 'It feels like I'm right back where I started,' and he had sworn never to go back there. He tugged against the chains; sweat beading against his skin as he struggled. 'I will not die! Not when she still needs me!'

Despite his disinterested appearance, Caecius couldn't help feeling surprised. No one had ever lasted this long against his chains once he'd decided to kill them, but this demon was not only doing that, he was managing to make the chains loosen.

Narrowing his eyes, Caecius fed them more power, only to pause when he saw the aquamarine glow spilling out from Kuronue. 'Has he been touched by-!' The bat demon yanked at one of the chains and to Caecius's shock, it gave, then whipped out against him like a snake. Caecius moved back but the chain still managed to graze his right cheek, causing blood to drip from the wound.

The rest of the chains went limp and Kuronue hit the ground on his feet, grabbing the scythe he'd dropped when he'd been captured. Caecius's chains dropped off the demon bat, fading.

Kuronue smirked, swinging his scythe to make it gather speed. "My turn." Caecius retreated into the shadows just as Kuronue lashed out at him. "You can't hide in the shadows forever!" Kuronue called out loudly. "Now who resembles the cornered bat!"

'I hate it when what I say comes back and kicks me in the face.' Caecius rushed to the other side of the dungeon when Kuronue came to close to his hiding place. 'Alright Caecius, think; if I use the chains on him again, it'll be likely he'll repeat his actions and-' His thoughts came to a halt when Kuronue suddenly looked straight at him.

"Your blood; it has a smell."

Caecius's eyes grew wide in surprise, one of his hands wiping at the blood on his cheek. "Not possible." His blood had never had a smell, none of them had. He kicked off against the wall, twisting in the air to avoid Kuronue's scythe and landing behind the demon. He materialized one of his chains, lashing out at Kuronue who whipped about and countered with his scythe. The weapon and the chain coiled around each other, the two combatants pulled only to discover their weapons had ensnared the other. It didn't stop Kuronue or Caecius from pulling.

Despite the vampire's strength, Kuronue had come to a startling discovery that gave him pause. "You're not a fighter."

Caecius's look of disinterest had melted away some time ago, Kuronue's words had the vampire grimacing, his grip on the chain tightening. "So? It doesn't mean I can't still kick your ass!" And now…he was beginning to sound a lot like...a few people Kuronue knew.

He was still angry that the vampire had tried to kill him and had they faced each other back when Kuronue was a bandit, he wouldn't have cared but... 'I'm blaming this on you, Fay.' He should have stolen another kiss from her when he'd had the chance. "What are you doing here if you can't fight?" Kuronue demanded, pulling at the thin chain of his weapon.

"Keeping you busy until The Rig...Fay, brakes our spell." Caecius snarled.

Kuronue pulled and a surprised Caecius found himself flying forward, hit full in the face by the flat of Kuronue's scythe and imprisoned by both his and Kuronue's own chains. Before he could attempt to get up, Kuronue had set a foot on his chest, pressing down just enough that it hurt, the blade of his scythe to Caecius's neck.

"Go ahead!" the vampire growled, showing sharp teeth. "But you can't kill me! Only-"

"I know I can't kill you,' Kuronue interrupted. "But I can still make this very, very painful for you,' he pushed the blade just close enough to Caecius's neck for blood to seep out. "Want to feel what you put me through?" The vampire didn't even swallow but continued to glare up at Kuronue in defiance.

"Now talk, before I change my mind." Kuronue watched his captive's face take on a mutinous expression, dark eyes daring him to do it. Kuronue still found himself tempted to at least try ending the, as Hiei would say, fool's life; instead he hit Caecius in the head hard enough to knock him out. The chain around the vampire faded, leaving only Kuronue's before he retracted it.

'Now I have to find a way out...' about to look away from the unconscious vampire, Kuronue paused, knelt and cautiously set a hand over the symbol appearing on Caecius's head. The moment he did, it flared brightly, blazing out as a sunburst of aquamarine light. The battle field shattered like so much glass and the light died down, leaving behind an unconscious vampire whose skin seemed to have taken a warmer tone, but of Kuronue, there was no sign.

* * *

"Yo-waah!" Rinku's attack was interrupted as Kuwabara barreled into him, knocking one of his yoyos out of his reach. "Kuwabara stop running like a scared little girl! It's not that big of a deal!"

"For you maybe,' Kuwabara shouted as he ran past. "But I hate mice! And this one's way too big!"

'Why does this always happen when I end up with him,' Rinku grumbled. He rolled out of the way before the large mouse stepped on him, grabbed his yoyo and faced to the instigator of the this mess, then sweat dropped when he spotted the vampire. "We're supposed to be fighting! Not sitting around in a lawn chair drinking tea!"

"It's not tea,' Skirron, who in fact was sitting on a lawn chair, answered. "What I'm holding is a coconut, thus this is a coconut _drink." _He stretched his legs out in front of him, looking up at the sky of the battle field he'd placed up around them. "Of course, a beach at night isn't as fun as the beach at daytime, or so I've heard, but it'll have to do."

Since the two idiots he'd been stuck with hadn't stopped arguing, Skirron had set up the battle field, conjured himself a drink and sat down to watch, but once he'd gotten bored of their bickering, he'd fished around their minds for what scared them, a simple task especially with Kuwabara, and he'd thought the guy being afraid of mice was funny so he'd summoned a large one. It was funny; what's more it didn't take all that much energy and he wasn't getting hurt. Nice.

"I don't care what it is! What I care about is that you're making fun of me!" He hurled a yoyo at Skirron. "And I'm going to make you regret thaaa-hmp!" Kuwabara had once more barreled into Rinku, sending the boy flying into the sand. "Ku,' He coughed out sand. "Kuwabara stop being such a girl!"

"That's the second time you called me that! I'm not a scared little girl, you punk!" Kuwabara stopped, spun. "Spirit Sword!" He ran the mouse through and kept going until he thought himself at a safe distance. "Ha, take...' he looked around. "Where's that mouse?"

"It's a summons,' Skirron explained. "And not all that easy to beat, once you struck, the mouse disappeared."

'That's a relief. I didn't want to have to deal with mouse guts.' Kuwabara turned to Skirron, pointing his sword. "And now I'm taking you and your girly drink down!"

'About time he got serious,' Rinku faced Skirron, yoyos spinning from the strings. "This time we're not playing around!"

Skirron sipped at his drink and made a gesture. Both Kuwabara and Rinku suddenly found their feet swept under them, they were plopped onto lawn chairs, another coconut drink landing on Kuwabara's lap while Rinku found himself with a paper cup of flavored ice. The demon boy blinked down at the treat, then at Skirron. "Don't think you can bribe us with this! I'm still going to beat you."

Skirron couldn't help rolling his eyes. "How can you when you don't even know the rules, now listen,' he quickly said just as both Rinku and Kuwabara opened their mouths. "And I'll tell you what's going on." They didn't look all that happy to comply but Skirron ignored it, telling them about the rules.

"Then there's even more reason for us to beat your face in!" Kuwabara made to stand and found himself pushed back into the chair.

"I'm not done. Look, we just need Fay to break the spell on us. Sure it seems as if Orpheus wants to keep her,' why Skirron wasn't sure. None of them were going for the whole world domination theme anyway. "But your friends Yusuke and Kurama can have it out with him. The point is that as we speak, Fay is working on breaking our curse, I can already feel it weakening. Once I feel it break, I give you these,' he held up two small glass bells, one green and one white. "Once broken, one will bring down the battle field; the other will open the next part of the path for your two friends. Do we have a deal?"

Rinku inwardly groaned. 'And here I thought I was finally going to get a good work out.'

"No deal, punk!" Surprised, Rinku looked over at Kuwabara as he stood, pointing his spirit sword at Skirron. "We don't know how long it'll take Fay to break your curse and I don't want to be the one that fails to get Urameshi and Kurama to where they have to be just because you're too afraid to fight!"

Rinku grinned and jumped to his feet. "You heard him, we don't have a deal."

'Why did I think this was going to work?' Skirron let out a long sigh. "Fine, but you could at least let me finish my drink." They didn't. Kuwabara charged him; Rinku threw his yoyos at him, leaving Skirron no other choice but to move out of the way. In the process he lost his grip on the coconut which was then struck by a yoyo. The coconut shattered, the liquid inside spilling onto the sand.

"That's not coconut juice,' Kuwabara said, paling. "It's blood!"

"Well duh!" Skirron said as if it should be obvious. "Vampire, blood; is any of this ringing a bell to either of you?"

Kuwabara charged Skirron with a shout, sword held high.

'Right, human blood. Humans...guess I am going to have to fight.' Before the blade could hit Skirron, Kuwabara found himself blocked, but by what he wasn't sure, all he knew was that one second he was in front of Skirron, the next he was flying through the air and hitting the sand.

"I told you to stay back,' Rinku said, hurling his yoyos at Skirron. "I'll take him down."

Skirron held up a hand and Rinku found both his yoyos suspended in midair. "What the-" The yoyos reversed their direction and attacked him, causing the demon boy to suffer a similar fate as Kuwabara.

"You cheater!" Kuwabara snapped, getting to his feet.

"It's not cheating,' Skirron said, scratching his neck. "It's called being psychic. Did you guys charge in here without knowing anything about us or our abilities?" How stupid could a person get?

"We know about you guys being psychic,' Rinku picked himself up. "You just caught us by surprise, it won't happen again."

"It will if you try throwing those yoyos at me again without any plan behind it."

"It's called improvising!" Rinku let fly his yoyos which, like last time, stopped right before they hit Skirron.

"Over here, punk!" Kuwabara rushed the vampire, spirit sword flaring. Skirron made a gesture, sending Kuwabara flying back and returned his attention to the yoyos only to find Rinku had launched himself as well. The yoyos were moving erratically so while Rinku hit Skirron's psychic barrier, one of the yoyos managed to hit the vampire on the side of the head, throwing him to the ground.

"Who's eating sand now!" Rinku grinned, using his yoyos to trap Skirron as he made to stand.

"I got him!" Kuwabara jumped onto Skirron's back who yelped. "Hey! Get off me you moron! Unless you're a gorgeous girl in a bikini you're not allowed to touch-! I told you not to touch me!" Skirron squirmed, trying to get away as Kuwabara reached into his pant pockets. "Okay, punk. Where are those bells!"

Skirron yelped, using his psychic abilities to try throwing Kuwabara off him only to realize that...it wasn't his best option at the moment. "Not-the-right-bells!" he gritted out.

"Eeewww!" Kuwabara jerked his hand out the pocket.

"I got them!" Rinku took the bells one of the strings of his yoyos had snatched from Skirron.

"Break the one that'll let Urameshi and Kurama go on." Kuwabara said.

"Tell me which one it is," Rinku demanded of Skirron.

"Make me!" Skirron growled, attempting to throw Kuwabara off him again only to find that himself thrown as well since Kuwabara had been holding on to the back of his jacket.

"Watch the damn jacket! It's a chick magnet!"

"Tell us which one it is or say goodbye to your jacket!" Kuwabara threatened.

"The damn white one! Now let go!" He finally succeeded in throwing Kuwabara off him just as Rinku broke the white bell.

"Idiot, who wears their favorite clothes to a fight," Rinku scoffed.

"Shut up! They're comfortable!" This came not only from Skirron but Kuwabara as well.

Rinku groaned. 'Don't tell me he's a vampire version of Kuwabara.'

Skirron's psychic blast threw both away from the vampire that finally looked pissed off. "I tried being nice, but you two just stepped way, way past the line. So get ready to spend several weeks in intensive care!" The wind whipped up around the vampire, picking up sand and battering the two with it.

"Kuwabara, try distracting him!" Rinku shouted.

"Why don't you do that!?" Kuwabara shouted back.

"Idiot! I have the attack that'll end this!"

"Ha! That's just because you haven't seen my new awesome attack!" Kuwabara countered.

In the end the distraction Rinku was looking for didn't come from Kuwabara. The wind died suddenly, Skirron stumbled, a glowing symbol on his forehead cracking like a windowpane. As it splintered, Rinku moved, his energy increasing. "Yoyo Pendulum!"

The large yoyos appeared, swinging from the dark sky. One struck Skirron, throwing him into the air like a rag doll, the other yoyo came in and threw him back against the other , both yoyos throwing the vampire about as if he were a pingpong ball, so that by the time Skirron finally hit the ground, he was close to unconsciousness.

'Da...damn...it! This is just...em...embarrassing!' He should have just beat those two down at the beginning of the fight. Skirron lost consciousness and the green bell in Rinku's pocket broke. Their surroundings changed, changing back into glass walls behind where tropical fish swam.

Rinku grinned, pocketing his yoyos. "I told you I'd finish it." What he hadn't expected was that it would take so much of his energy.

"You punk, I just let you finish it." Kuwabara grumbled.

"Yeah right, you weren't even able to move when you had the chance." Tired as he was, Rinku snapped at Kuwabara.

"I was about too!" Kuwabara shouted, glaring down at the demon boy. "You were just a little faster than I was!"

"You mean a lot faster! A snail would have beaten you!"

"Oh yeah? What about if I beat you right now!" Kuwabara's shout echoed off the walls.

"Try it!" Rinku brought his yoyos out, Kuwabara materialized his spirit sword.


	69. Chapter 69: Orpheus's Scheme

Chapter 68: Orpheus's Scheme

After the flash of light, Kuronue found himself in a misty place. The ground itself was made of mist and below it; now and then he thought he caught flashes of colored light. Wherever he had been transported too, it was not found in Human, Demon, or Spirit World. 'Maybe I should have killed that vampire when I had the chance.' At least that way he might have avoided this.

From the corner of his eye he caught a flicker of movement. His hand snaked out, grabbing whatever it was only to find it was... 'Thread?' He pulled at it but the thread didn't give an inch. Curious, Kuronue followed the thread, hand always on it. The mist continued to part before him and Kuronue soon found that the light was no longer beneath him but before him.

Kuronue halted when his gaze fell on Fay, who stood in the middle of a swarm of snowflakes she ignored, her hands working on a tangle of thread that seemed to slowly be coming apart at her hands.

Kuronue let go of the thread and cautiously approached Fay who was so focused on whatever her task was that she was oblivious to his presence. A snowflake fluttered across his vision and Kuronue caught it, eyes narrowing. "Fay, stop now." He advanced towards her, placing a hand on her shoulder only for her to slap it away, turning aquamarine eyes icy with disdain on him.

"I thought as much,' in one quick move he placed the snowflake on her head, watched as the rest of the snowflakes paused, converged on her and melted into her skin.

The girl blinked in confusion and stared up at him, recognition filling her eyes. "Kuronue? How did you get in here?"

Kuronue smiled, relieved to see her back to normal. "I'm not sure, but I'm glad I did. You were beginning to lose your memories."

Fay gave him a doubtful look. "What makes you say that? I still remember you and everyone else."

Kuronue caught a last snowflake and held it out to her; Fay took it, her eyes going wide as the snowflake melted into her. 'That's right. I can't believe I forgot that.' She hadn't noticed that she'd forgotten how she'd met Jin and the others. "Great, so I keep working on this and I'll lose my memories, again?" And how convenient that Vidar had forgotten to tell her about it.

Kuronue smiled. "I'm glad to see you're back to your old self; I didn't like the way you behaved the last time I saw you."

She looked away, biting her lip. "I...couldn't exactly stay miserable forever, could I?" Especially when the Factions wouldn't give her the damn time of day for it!

She was swept into an unexpected embrace, and she looked up at Kuronue who stared back down at her. "It may be selfish and I may be betraying my best friend's trust, but I know I can make you forget him. Can't you give me a chance, even now?"

Fay looked away, tears that she refused to shed making her gaze glimmer. "You would never betray a friend,' she whispered.

'What makes you say that?" Kuronue asked.

"Because I know you,' Fay faced him again, smiling. "And this is getting way too mushy so let go, Kuronue." She reached up, startling Kuronue when she pulled at his cheeks. "And smile. If I have to smile, then so do you. It's a rule." Kuronue sighted, tugged at her hair. "I am not Yusuke, so let go, kitten." Despite his warning tone he complied, smiling back and when she let go, he swept her up as if she were a child, throwing her into the air and catching her. Fay laughed in surprise and as she came down wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Kuronue."

He squeezed her gently. "No problem." Unfortunately she was right, Kuronue wouldn't betray his friends, especially not Kurama. He had asked...maybe because he wanted to make sure her love for Kurama still remained as before, though he would admit if only to himself, that a small part of him had hoped she would have chosen him while under the impression that Kurama wouldn't return to her. He should probably tell her what had happened, let her know that Kurama was coming for her but...he would leave Kurama to untangle the mess by himself.

"By the way,' he looked over at the threads. "What are you doing with those?"

"Oh that,' she shrugged. "That's the vampires' curse. Orpheus wants me to undo it so that they don't have to drink blood anymore."

Kuronue remained silent, thinking it over. "That would mean that they could be defeated or killed, by someone other than a vampire."

Fay nodded. "And they can go out into the sun. From my talk with Orpheus and Zephyr; I think that's what they want the most. Oh and they said once I'm done with it they'll let me go."

"...And you believed them?" Kuronue asked, sounding amused.

"Well yeah, eventually. They did..." Fay let out an irritated sigh. "The others are out there fighting the vampire members aren't they?"

"A little' Kuronue responded in the same tone. "But breaking the curse might not be a bad idea,' he continued on more seriously. "As it is, if isn't broken, then there's little chance of defeating them." He understood now why he'd been able to knock out Caecius so completely; the vampire's curse had already been deteriorating.

Fay stared at what was left of the knot. "But my memories..."

Kuronue walked over to the knot, set Fay down but wrapped his arms around her neck. "I'll guard you; I won't let your memories fade."

She smiled up at him in thanks. "I'll count on you then." Just as she turned back, Fay heard an echo of a voice that made her smile widen. 'Hiei, impatient as always.' She didn't know who he was fighting so she'd better work fast.

* * *

He stood over the limp body of the vampire demon, an angry light in his eyes, an unseen psychic blade gripped in his hand. 'This is who she summons to her?' Vidar couldn't understand why. He was the High Priest, he had the training, had been waiting for her for such a long time...and she chose this...miscreant!

The blade stopped inches from Kuronue's chest. Vidar staring down at the unconscious demon with an angry glower. He should kill him. He would be saving himself future trouble but... 'If Fay summoned him, then he's in there with her. If he were to suddenly disappear...' Vidar still remembered that blade's fury, and now that blade had a human conscious, what's more, the blade was now a female... He dispersed his weapon and took a seat by The Right's human body. 'I am no coward, but I will not deal with a female's fury. Especially not this one.'

* * *

"Tornado Fist!" Jin let fly his attack, followed by a second.

"Y'all just keep 'em coming, I'll keep throwing them back, double!" Jin's wind attacks were sucked by the guns as if they were going down a drain, Zephyr spun them once, clicked and fired. Course, he didn't need to spin them, but it was mighty fun, and he had the time.

Jin dodged, but the third round came a little too close, sending him spinning head over feet until he hit one of the old wood buildings and crashed through.

Zephyr stepped through the hole in the wall, guns pointed at Jin. "If that's all your ace in the hole is, sorry to say partner, but y'all's about to die."

Jin picked himself off the ground, grinning. "A little hasty to be finishing this party aren't ye? Here I haven't even begun play."

Zephyr raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So me seeing y'all about to collapse is all illusion?"

"Aye, bout right." Jin charged Zephyr and the vampire shot another blast which Jin avoided, Zephyr fired again but Jin had come close enough to slug Zephyr, sending the cowboy vampire flying through the hole and out into the street.

"Tornado Fist!"

"Same ole trick." Zephyr landed on his feet and sucked in the attack, and as Jin sent another, held up the second gun to suck it away. "I won't even have to move from this here spot."

"We'll be seeing about that,' Jin had been waiting for the moment Zephyr let his guard down. "Tornado Fist,' he saw the vampire readying his weapon to suck in the wind attack. 'Not this time!' "Event Horizon!"

'Well that can't be good,' the last time Zephyr had heard those words, it had been accompanied by 'crushed'. He fired two of Jin's attacks, watched as the tables were turned on him, the attacks swallowed by the incoming attack that somehow was so silent; it was beginning to ring in Zephyr's ears. He sprung away, still firing away at Jin who kept coming, following Zephyr's flight path. In those moments, Zephyr felt the sun beginning to rise over the horizon of this world and he might have worried, if it weren't for the warmth on his forehead and the almost inaudible sound of the breaking curse.

Someone less prepared than him might have staggered under the curse's disappearance, he just grinned as the sun touched his guns, setting them afire. "If y'all using a black hole, then I'll be bringing the sun to this hoedown!" Golden fire erupted from his guns, flaring up to meet Jin's attack. Jin winced at the heat and pressure of keeping his attack going but continued to hold. 'I'll not be the one letting Yusuke and Kurama down, so I won't!'

He fed his attack more strength, pushing to gain ground against Zephyr's own counterattack. A thought occurred to Jin then, followed by the last time he'd been shocked by a certain strange box. 'Think I'm after doing it the wrong way again.' Jin continued his attack but instead of battling against Zephyr's fire, Jin worked on merging it with his own attack. It wasn't easy, he was being burned and fire had never been his element so finding the right wavelength in such a short time was difficult, but just as Zephyr began pushing Jin back, he found it.

'Well I'll be...' Zephyr wasn't sure when he lost control of his weapons, he just knew the moment they were too hot even for him to handle and since he'd rather keep his skin where it was, he dropped them, instead mustering as strong a psychic blast as he could to throw at Jin with the energy he had left to him.

"That won't be doing you any good now,' Jin shouted, his eyes half closed against the heat of the fire. "Tornado Fist, Fire Lotus!"

'I'm having the notion this is gonna be mighty painful.' The fire engulfed him, burning, the wind cut at him and Zephyr knew no more.

Jin tumbled the last few feet to the ground just as the battle field went down and he hit cool glass. Despite that, he was smiling in smug satisfaction. 'That'll show Isis fer sure.'

* * *

"_My Master wishes you to know that if you prostrate yourself before him, he will let you live." _

"Tell your master to go to hell!" Hiei brought his sword down on what he thought would be the back of the neck of whatever it was he was fighting. The sword dug deep, inciting a snarl from the creature.

Even with his Jagan eye open, it was hard to catch even a glimpse of what he was fighting, so it was only instinct that warned Hiei to move, but even then, the creature caught him by the leg and smashed him into the ground.

Hiei grunted in pain, fought to free himself as he was raised once more only to make the crater beneath him deeper as he crashed into it. The third time Hiei was raised, he countered. "Fist of the Mortal Flame!" his blow landed on what Hiei assumed to be the upper arm of the creature and it gave way just enough for him to break free, landing near the edge of the ring. His left leg gave out but he braced himself against it. He refused to show weakness to any enemy!

'If you're not going to hurry up, I'm not going to keep waiting like some faithful dog!' Black flames came to life on his arm again and the creature protecting Aquilon scoffed. _"That did not work before, what makes you think it will work this time?" _The voice taunted.

Hiei smirked. "Who said this was for you? Dragon of the Darkness Flame!" He unleashed the dragon once more but instead of aiming for Aquilon, he aimed up. The black dragon rose, then descended down upon him. The moment Hiei felt his power rise, he attacked, determined to make it past whatever was protecting Aquilon to the vampire.

"_Even this will do you no good." _The creature blocked Hiei who took the opportunity to punch; there was a grunt, one that was repeated as Hiei struck again and again. When it seemed as if the creature would fall, Aquilon staggering a step, Hiei grabbed the blade, pulled it out and aimed for Aquilon. The vampire shifted but the blade still cut down the right side of his arm.

Hiei smirked. "Ha! So you can be hurt!"

Aquilon glared at Hiei just before the demon struck again, grabbing the katana and aiming for Aquilon's neck, but the vampire had recovered and leapt so that the blade just barely missed him. Hiei followed him up but the creature protecting Aquilon had regained its equilibrium and grabbed the arm Hiei used to wield his blade. From the pressure Hiei could tell he meant to break it and the creature might have succeeded, if it hadn't been for the added power of the dragon.

Hiei twisted in midair, slamming his knee against what he assumed was the creature's upper arm. He was released and continued to attack, determined to finish this soon. He was blocked again and again by what protected Aquilon and one false step had him tumbling through the air, grabbing onto the edge of the ring and pulling himself up.

_"Your attack has a time limit,'_ the voice came again. _"And it will soon be reached. Even if you manage to do us damage,'_ Aquilon raised his arm, showing Hiei a wound that was beginning to heal before his eyes. _"It will not matter. The only reason why my Master's wound is taking so long in healing is because your blade is...unusual."_

Hiei scowled, the grip on his blade tightening. "So I'll just cut his head off, let's see him heal from that." He dashed forward, determined to end it before the dragon's power abandoned him.

Aquilon took on a battle stance, stepped forward...and staggered. Hiei would have taken the opportunity but he caught the merest glimpse of a hand against the symbol glowing on Aquilon's forehead.

"Fay!" A glint of hazel, the glow of aquamarine and she was gone, leaving Aquilon to gasp, knees hitting the ground. The vampire's guardian began to materialize above him; a large muscular being with dark blue skin and metal rings around biceps and wrists. Only the upper half of the guardian's body was visible, the waist tapered off into a wisp that disappeared.

"Feeling weighted down now that you're fully inside the real world?" Hiei taunted.

Aquilon glared, struggling to his feet as above him, the guardian appeared to have trouble returning to his position.

"So my curse is broken; I don't see how that benefits you."

"So you do talk,' He charged. "Then say your last words!"

Aquilon's eyes narrowed, flashed, and Hiei felt a wave of energy barrel into him like a tidal wave.

Aquilon had no choice; he dismissed his guardian and finally managed to get to his feet. 'I can feel, and this weight; I had forgotten what gravity is like.' It must also mean that soon the time would come when Seline would be freed from the bloody curse imprisoning her. For that, he would lay down his life a thousand times over.

A shiver down his spine warned Aquilon, he moved out of the way just as Hiei descended, blade biting into the ground.

"You will not win this fight!" Aquilon spun, striking Hiei on the chest, a psychic force behind the blow that sent him flying. Aquilon made to grab the blade but paused, stared at it suspiciously and dismissed it, meeting Hiei's attack head on.

"I think those are my lines vampire!"

The two exchanged blows, Aquilon's psychic force behind it so that each blow doubled in strength. Unlike another vampire, Aquilon did work on defense, and his abilities gave him a boost in protection and offense, making it harder for Hiei to deal any real damage. Aquilon's palm was suddenly in front of him, giving Hiei no time to retreat before the golden energy exploded, tossing him away from the vampire.

Aquilon walked to the edge of the ring where Hiei found himself holding on once more. He fully expected Aquilon to attack, but instead the vampire stepped back.

"Mercy is for fools; know that it will cost you." Hiei said once his feet touched the ground.

"You don't seem to understand me quite well,' Aquilon said instead. "So listen, not simply hear. You have no chance of winning this battle."

Hiei was already on the move, grabbing his sword and charging Aquilon who held up his palm and fired blasts of golden heat.

"I thought you didn't like talking." Hiei dodged, moving ever closer to Aquilon, until his whole body froze up on him. No, it was more as if someone had seized him and kept him in place by force.

The boost the dragon's power had given him had disappeared already, leaving him tired, but Hiei had found, surprisingly, that it wasn't to the point of fainting. Not that he would be thanking Isis for being right. He stared angrily at Aquilon. "Fine, since you seem so chatty now ,why don't you get it over with and get out whatever nonsense you're trying to prattle." It would give him time to figure out how to break out of Aquilon's control.

"The reason you're here,' Mismatched eyes stared intently at Hiei. "I believe it's safe to assume it's not only because this is a job you must see through, perhaps even one not to your liking, but because you wish to increase your strength."

Hiei's eyes narrowed. He despised when people thought to figure him out. "So let's assume you're right; what of it? I'm still stronger than you and the moment I figure out your little trick, you're done."

"Even if you do manage to escape, you still won't win." Aquilon replied confidently. "You're here out of duty and selfish reasons!" His tone grew fierce, eyes almost glowing. "Maybe if I were fighting the fox I might lose, but I will never lose to someone who has no heart!" He kicked at a dislodged piece of the ground, the stone hit the blade Hiei had dropped and both tumbled over the edge of the ring.

The look on Hiei's face could almost be called disbelief. Teeth gritted, he glowered at Aquilon. "You will regret that." The force holding him still intensified, trying to force him to his knees.

"You still don't get it,' Aquilon's tone was fierce. "I'm fighting so that the one I love will be free from her curse. For that I will lay down my life. You on the other hand..."

"Ha!" Hiei scoffed. "I get what you're saying. Believe it or not I've come across it before. I don't care what it is you think of me, my job isn't to be your friend; it's to kill you. As for your emotions,' his face darkened, giving Aquilon pause. "They don't belong in battle!"

Aquilon felt Hiei break free from his hold, causing the vampire a headache that sent his world reeling. The next thing Aquilon knew, he was being pummeled into the ground. Despite the constant pain, Aquilon forced himself back together and blasted Hiei away.

'Maybe I was wrong,' Aquilon thought, watching as the demon caught himself expertly and came back at him. "For someone who says emotions don't belong in a fight,' Vidar brought his hands up, shooting blast after blast of exploding energy. "That pounding sure felt full of them."

"Shut up!"

The vampire didn't even have time to react, Hiei was simply there, slamming a fist into his stomach, following up with a series of strikes that Aquilon had no time to counter against.

"I won't lose! Not when Seline's future depends on it!" What felt like a large paw slammed against Hiei, tearing into him and grinding his body into the ground.

Breath coming rapidly, Aquilon stood above him, trembling hand outstretched, struggling against Hiei's attempts to pick himself up.

"You...won't...last...much...much longer,' Aquilon said through long breaths.

Refusing to sound that tired, Hiei controlled his breathing. "I can say the same for you." They were both exhausted but Hiei refused to lose to this Idiot. All those fools would hold it over his head for the rest of his life and Fay...would most likely try to comfort him by giving him a damn hug!

"I refuse,' slowly, Hiei dragged himself up despite the pressure on his body. "To give her the idea that I can be beaten!" From Aquilon's expression, those words were the last thing the vampire expected to hear.

"Fist of the Eternal Flame!" Gold and white fire twinned around Hiei's arms as he shot forward. Already exhausted, Aquilon's defenses shattered beneath the powerful attack. Right before he blacked out, he thought he might have heard some of his bones break but by then Aquilon was more than half gone. The vampire dropped like a stone, leaving a heavily breathing Hiei standing as the surroundings faded back into dark water behind glass.

'I should kill you for that,' he started towards the vampire, hand curled into a fist until a clattering sound caught his attention. He looked down to find his sword at his feet. 'Well...I suppose I could let you live...for now.'

* * *

"Is it just me or have we been going around in circles since we ended up here?" Yusuke asked as he followed after Kurama.

"We have." Kurama answered calmly.

Yusuke stopped. "So were you planning on telling me this anytime soon?"

"I thought it best to let you figure it out." Kurama answered.

Yusuke's eye twitched. 'Why do I get the feeling that he's not as calm as he looks?'

"Alright,' Yusuke cracked his knuckles. "Then let's break one of these walls and get out of here."

"We can't,' Kurama tapped the wall nearest him. "We don't know which leads to the outside or which has been made to bear more weight than the others. Should we choose the wrong one; we may very well bring this place down on all of us."

Yusuke froze. "Okay so what do we do then?"

Kurama leaned against a wall, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes. "We wait."

"...and you're fine with that?" Without much choice, Yusuke followed Kurama's example, leaning against the opposite wall.

"No, not at all." Kurama answered. "But it seems that we have no other option...for the moment."

"Right..." Both lapsed into silence until they heard a click and a whish in the distance. By the time Yusuke was moving, Kurama was already half down the glass corridor. 'So I was right.' It was rare that Yusuke could tell anything about his red hair friend but in Kurama's place, Yusuke would likely have been just as impatient, if not more. 'We're on our way, Fay.'

Ahead of them one of the glass walls had disappeared, leading them down a corridor which looked out into kelp forest. The path dropped, leading the two down and a left, then stopping.

"Wouldn't it be safe to say that we can break that wall?" Yusuke came to a halt beside Kurama.

"Perhaps." Kurama glanced over at the other glass walls. "But I get the feeling that we would be wrong."

"Remind me to stuff their stupid maze down the first vampire we come across." He'd never been the patient type and this damn game of the vampire's was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Gladly." Kurama answered.

There was another click and a wall that seemed to look out into the kelp forest moved aside, revealing a pathway that the two followed, and just as they thought they would have to wait once more, another glass wall right ahead revealed a third passage. Yusuke grinned as he sped up. "Looks like the others are doing just fine."

Kurama nodded, continuing on until they once more hit a dead end. This one took a little more than two minutes before behind the two, another glass wall opened. They in through, another wall rolling back even before they had reached it.

The corridor the two stepped into was built into a box shape, at the end of the corridor the glass walls were carved to look like two whales jumping out of the ocean, and nestled in the middle of the two was a door, but between them and the door stood the vampire Botan and the other girls had described. He waved at them with one hand.

Rose petals fluttered into the air, the thorny whip snapping in warning.

"I doubt you will step out of my way, so I will kill you now and be done with it." Kurama said.

"We both know it's not going to be as easy as that, Kurama." Orpheus tisked. "You've made one mistake already; we wouldn't want you making another one."

Kurama's eyes narrowed, green eyes glinting dangerously.

"You're asking for it,' Yusuke pointed his forefinger at the vampire. "Now get the hell out of our way because if you haven't noticed, I ran out of patience when we had to deal with your first stupid maze!"

"Patience is a virtue Yusuke,' Orpheus said. "There is a...wager I would like to present to Kurama."

"What sort of wager?" Kurama asked.

Orpheus smiled, showing sharp teeth. "It's simple enough; I'm betting that you, much like Astor, are attracted to the power Fay represents, not the girl herself, and maybe you just don't realize it yourself."

"That's a load of crap!" Yusuke snapped. "Kurama would never-"

"Enough, Yusuke,' Kurama cut him off. "I will answer for myself." The question had taken him by surprise and it had shown in the minor widening of his eyes, but now he was over it.

"But before I do; what makes you believe I must answer to you?"

"Because I like her,' Orpheus answered frankly. "Despite her apparent need to break furniture over my head." Or maybe because of it...he should probably see a psychiatrist about that.

'She should have gone for the table.' Yusuke thought. 'It might have knocked some sense into him.'

"That is not a good enough reason,' Kurama said, tone frosty.

Orpheus smirked, crossing one leg over the other. "Really? Or is it that I'm right and you can't find a way to rebuttal me?"

"I've had just about enough of your crap! Either fight us or get the hell out of our way!" Yusuke raised his arm, finger pointed at Orpheus. "I'll give you to the count of-"

"It was her eyes."

Yusuke hadn't expected Kurama to answer Orpheus at all; that he had took him completely by surprise.

"So she has pretty eyes; I've seen some far more...exotic." Orpheus countered.

Without showing that he had heard, Kurama continued, green gaze becoming distant as he thought back to the beginning. "Or perhaps it was when she sacrificed her life for me without thought for what would happen to her,' his gaze glimmered, recalling the scene clearly. "I remember her staring down at me even as those foul claws pierced her body; that aquamarine gaze trying to reassure me, a stranger, that it would be alright. She even tried to smile at me in comfort." His hands curled into tight fists, blood soon seeping out of them.

"Even as she lay there, eyes paling with the touch of death; I saw no fear for her own rapidly fading life but relief that I was safe. Her actions...that gaze; pierced my heart in a way no other had ever done before. The thought of her death enraged me, the relief I felt when she lived was great. She slept for two days and my thoughts constantly returned to her. I would sleep and that gaze would haunt my dreams. Had I known exactly when my emotions began to deepen, I might have tried to stop it, but by the time I realized it myself, it was far too late. She would not leave my thoughts and the more she seemed to retreat, the more I wanted the distance gone. I wanted that wariness in her gaze gone, replaced by...by...an emotion I had not yet quite admitted to myself I held in my heart."

'He's a fox alright,' Orpheus thought. She ran, he pursued.

Kurama continued, looking more reluctant to speak his thoughts. "The thought of her being harmed or disappearing from my sight was...unwanted." Truth be told, it had sent fear through him, but that, he would not share with anyone. "She did disappear, and it was only then that I admitted to myself to what extent my emotions regarding her had grown." His gaze flashed a forbidding gold before it darkened to green once more. "It may be selfish, but Fay is mine; I will not allow her to be taken from me. That is all I will tell you, and let it be your only warning." More than that, to Kurama, Fay was his redemption. She made him laugh and feel lighthearted in a way he never had before. If deaths were necessary to keep her by his side; he would not hesitate.

"You've got your answer,' Yusuke said, still pointing at Orpheus. "Three."

Orpheus held up his hands. "Alright. I lose but before we continue, I thought you might want to be prepared for this." Before either could react, Orpheus snapped his fingers.

Interposed over their surroundings was a scene that had taken place in a room somewhere behind Orpheus. Orpheus sat at a table speaking to Fay and Yusuke was relieved to see she seemed to be back to her old self, until Orpheus ruined it.

Kurama could only watch on, unable to prevent it, knowing that it had already happened. 'She knows.' Her expression showed as realization began to dawn on her, aquamarine eyes growing large, filling with tears that spilled over as she stumbled out of the chair.

"Fay!" Unable to help it, Kurama ran towards the image only to have his arms cut through thin air while the image of Orpheus cradled Fay in his arms. Kurama bit his lip, green eyes filtering to golden as he turned to Orpheus. "You." The word was filled with such cold fury that even Yusuke stepped back, watching as his friend took on his demon form.

"What have you done to her?" Youko demanded.

Orpheus remained unruffled, shrugging. "Nothing. She didn't let me. Like I mentioned, she broke a chair right over my head. Still hurts."

Youko calmly closed the distance between him and Orpheus. "In that case I will end your life before you can touch her again."

Orpheus finally moved, evading the whip that dug into the glass door and pulled it half open, but then that had been Orpheus's plan. The vampire came face to face with Yusuke who already had his spirit gun aimed. "Damn it, it wasn't your place to tell her any of that!"

"True, but I thought she deserved to know, at some point in this century." A pity it hadn't broken her ties to them.

Yusuke's eyes narrowed. "Then you deserve to know that you're about to die, and I'm not the one who's going to cause it."

Orpheus already knew Youko was closing in behind him with deadly intent, but the running footsteps assured him that he wouldn't be dying today, not when he had finally accomplished his goal.

"Orpheus we have a problem!"

Fay burst through the door, came to a sudden halt when she saw who was on the other side.

Youko had every intention of ending the vampire's life, but his ears had caught the sound of running and the scent that accompanied the steps had him aborting his attack and turning around.

Golden eyes met aquamarine, both held frozen by surprise. Youko moved first, stepping towards her. "Fay, I-"

"Stoooop!" Her shout froze him in place and she backed away, eyes filled with tears. "I told you I...you...' she seemed to fumble for words even as she backed away. "Liar! I...I hate you!" And she was fleeing back down the corridor she'd come from.

Her words kept him in place moments longer, then he was running after her, calling her name.

Left alone, Orpheus and Yusuke switched their attention to the other. "Guess I'm the one who's going to have to kick your ass."

Orpheus sighted. "If you haven't noticed, I didn't stop your fox friend from going after Fay. I could have, but I didn't. While it's true that I do want to keep Fay...' he smiled wryly. "I wouldn't be able to sleep for fear she'd stake me. What's more, you have reserves, I don't." Five of his group members were unconscious in different parts of their home; that was more than half of his Faction.

"What, so you're just giving up?" Yusuke found that hard to believe, but at least the vampire's words let him know that wherever the rest of his friends were, they were safe.

"You want proof?" Orpheus hesitated. It really wasn't that he wanted Fay's power; it was more that he wanted her. He thought that getting to know her better might actually be quite fun, and that was something that had been missing from his life for a very long time. Unfortunately, Orpheus also knew that she would never stay with him on her own, and so he had two choices. Fight Yusuke, possibly lose and even if he didn't, Orpheus doubted he'd be in any condition to then fight Kurama.

He already knew that Vidar could never take on the three waiting with Seline and win, plus there was a wondering Shaman somewhere in his compound. In short, his Faction would most likely face extinction. Despite the temptation, he was smart enough not to fall to it...or her.

He spoke, voice booming. "Guardian I summon thee."

Mary Anne arrived with a soda in one hand and popcorn in the other. "Talk fast, movie starts in ten."

Yusuke almost hit the floor. "So you're telling me that after all the crap you've put us through, you're just going to give up!? Who the hell am I supposed to take out all my frustrations on?" He demanded. "The fish?"

"I would save those frustrations for the Werewolf and Dragon Factions. They won't be as lenient...on themselves. Luckily for you and me, I'm more of a lover, not a fighter."

"I am waiiiitiiiing." Mary Anne reminded them impatiently.

* * *

AN: Glad to see that people are still following this story. Thanks for the Reviews.

Next chapter should bring the Vampire's part of the story to a close.


	70. Chapter 70: Seline's Curse

Chapter 69: Seline's Curse

The corridor led to another door which was closed firmly before Youko could reach it. He could tear it down but he could smell her on the other side. "Fay, open the door. Let me-"

"No!" On the other side of the door Fay had her hands up against the barrier, as if she could keep it closed this way. "You lied! Do you have any idea how stupid I feel! How stupid you made me feel!? Here I was thinking that I...I..." Her voice broke and she sniffed, ignoring her tears.

"It doesn't matter. I told you to never show yourself again!" She was screaming and crying at the same time, but at this point Fay didn't care what she looked like. She moved away from the door, ignoring his words as she searched the room. Kuronue leaned against the far wall, watching her intently. Vidar was on the other side of the room, pushing on the wall which, a moment later, opened to reveal a secret passage.

"You can stay here and face him,' Vidar stepped out of the way. "Or you can continue to run."

"Fay!" There was a pounding at the door. "You must listen to me, I-" His ears caught running footsteps and he knew she'd chosen to escape.

With three swift strikes the door fell away, letting Youko step into the room where he caught sight of Kuronue.

Golden eyes narrowed in displeasure but he didn't stand around long enough to question his friend. With a passing glare at Vidar, Youko rushed into the passageway, following the sound of her running and scent.

"Fay!"

He finally saw her, just as the doors to the elevator closed. He reached the elevator and took a left, heading up the stairs. 'No matter how far you run, I will catch you.'

* * *

'Coward!' The word kept repeating itself in her head, but Fay couldn't stop herself from running. She wanted to hear his explanation but at the same time she was scared, so very scared. What if it made everything worse? She'd finally managed to get her emotions under some sort of control. Why did he have to show up and ruin it all?

Yet at the same time, Fay wanted nothing more than to turn around and run back to him in the hopes that he could make it alright, but then what if he didn't?

'I hate this! But I...' It wasn't like she could stop loving him with a snap of her fingers. It was impossible. She spotted the open elevator, ran into it and pushed at the button repeatedly. The doors began to close just as he appeared and Fay almost pushed the hold button, but at the last second stopped herself.

'What am I doing?' She crouched on the floor, hands to her head. 'I can't outrun him, I don't know if I want too, and even if I did...I would have to come back.'

The elevator came to a stop, the doors opened, and Fay stood to run, if only Youko hadn't been blocking her path.

"How the hell do you get up here faster than a stinking elevator!" She backed into a corner as he stepped inside, the door closing behind him.

"I would outrace the sun if meant catching you."

He braced both hands on each side of her head, golden eyes focused on her. "Now you will listen."

"No!" Fay clapped her hands over her ears. "I don't want to hear a wor-" He kissed her, effectively shutting her up. His fingers caressed her hair, skimmed down her face, lifted her chin so that he could adjust the angle of his kiss.

By the time he finally broke the kiss, Fay was gasping for breath, and had somehow ended up sitting on the ground, Youko kneeling, still holding on to her. "Whether you like it or not, you will listen,' he whispered, leaning close to her ear. "And you will understand."

Missing the necessary air to speak, Fay said nothing, not that she nodded either but that might have been because she couldn't quite remember how to move her head.

Youko didn't wait for her permission; he started explaining what had happened the day he'd left her, and his reasons for doing so.

"Had I been thinking clearly that day, I would never have caused you so much pain." He was still whispering in her ear, fingers gently caressing her skin.

She did understand but... "Why...why keep your demon form secret from me?"

He paused in his caress, golden eyes locking with hers. "I thought that you would be unable to accept me in this form."

Fay blinked up at him, her tears finally drying. "Kurama,' she smiled warmly before knocking at his forehead with the back of her fingers, startling the demon fox. "For someone so very smart you sure are, and I'm sorry but I'm going to take great pleasure in this, a big idiot."

"Ah..." It was Youko's turn to blink down in confusion at her. "I will accept the term from you, but you will explain."

"Have you counted how many of my friends are demons lately? Jin's got a horn and I only thought about it the first time I met him. Heck, I call Hiei a cuddly teddy bear, and he's scary,' she frowned. "Or so Botan, Jury, and Koto say." Frankly she didn't see it.

"If you're trying to make me jealous,' Youko gently wrapped his hands around her head, leaning close to her. "You're succeeding."

"No, if I were trying to make you jealous I'd probably tell you about the kisses." Fay regretted it the moment the words were out of her mouth.

"Kisses?" Youko leaned in closer, golden eyes glinting dangerously.

"Uhh...what I mean is,' Fay placed her hands on his cheeks. "Kurama is Kurama; it doesn't matter to me if you're a demon or not, or if people call you Youko in this form. Just...' tears sprang up in her eyes once more. "Just…as long as I can stay with you."

He kissed away the tears that trailed down her cheeks. "Of course, that has been my intention for some time now. And I had planned on telling you about my demon nature that very day." He embraced her, holding her tightly to him. "Whatever way it happened, I have spent several hundred years waiting for you Fay, and without intending too, I became overly cautious with subjects that I should not have." A small self mocking smile graced his lips. "In my defense; when it comes to you, my plans seem to always go astray." He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for the pain I caused you."

After a moment of hesitation, Fay wrapped her arms around him. "Just as long as you never do it again. I hate feeling like this."

"I promise you, it will never happen a second time." He leaned back, took a hold of her hand and placed the ring back on her finger. "Don't ever take this off a second time. And you are not allowed to say you hate me ever again."

Fay smiled tiredly, leaning against his chest, eyes closing. "I won't, I promise. To both."

The elevator doors were forcefully pushed open, Orpheus focusing on Fay. "Please tell me you broke the curse on Seline."

Fay shook her head. "If she's the last member, then no. That's what I was going to tell you, I think I need to be near her to break it."

"Your last member can wait for her turn,' Youko stood with Fay in his arms. "Fay needs rest."

Orpheus cursed. "Not until she breaks it, not unless you don't mind the human females dying."

* * *

"Well...this tunnel just goes on and on, doesn't it." Nina said dryly. It seemed as if they had been moving down the very long corridor for a while without encountering anything. The damn tunnel just kept going further downward, the walls getting thicker; it didn't even veer off in different directions.

"Maybe we should just turn back." Jury said.

"We've already made it this far,' Nina countered. "What if this is where they're keeping Fay. It looks like a good place to keep prisoners don't you think?"

"You mean like a dungeon?" Botan asked. The thought that the vampires were keeping her friend in such a dreary place just didn't sit well with her.

"Maybe it is a dungeon,' Shizuru rubbed her arms. "And if Fay's there, she's being guarded by something really bad. Honestly, I don't think we'd be able to take on whatever's waiting there."

"Hmm..." Nina lapsed into silence as she thought it over. On one hand she did want to rescue her friend and rub the vampires' noses in it. On the other...

"You guys have to come see this!" Koto called from further up ahead.

"What did you find?" Jury asked, hesitating to join Koto, but Nina showed no signs of hesitation, hurrying to where Koto stood.

It seemed that the tunnel finally veered just slightly to the left, leading them to a dead end, or at least that was what it looked like, but the glass wall they encountered was carved to look like a garden overflowing with white lilies.

"How beautiful,' Botan said, awed by the craftsmanship.

"You think it's like the last one?" Koto asked.

"There's only one way to find out." Botan placed her palms against the carvings, searching for the hidden device that would open the door. Koto and Jury joined her, but the moment Nina set her hands on the glass, she jerked back, her skin crawling.

"You sense it too?" Shizuru asked. Nina nodded as she backed away. "I don't think-"

"Found it!" Koto pushed at a lily.

"Koto don't!" Nina's words came too late, the glass wall began to separate in the middle, opening to show a very large roo filled with glass carved to resemble a garden.

"Idiot!" Although most of the girls couldn't see the ghosts, and Shizuru only caught a glimpse of them, the trio flew through the opening which let out a gust of wind, grabbed at Nina's arms and made to pull her away.

"La! You must away querida! Dis place, it brings only death!" Iliana grabbed at Nina's left arm while Hayden grabbed her right.

"Botan! Koto! Jury! We have to go! Now!" Nina grasped Botan's arm, Shizuru seized Jury's and raced back up the tunnel with Koto at their heels.

"What in the world is going on you two?" Botan asked, confused at their behavior.

"We'll explain later,' Shizuru answered. "We just need to get away from-" The sound of a high pitched growl echoed down the tunnel, prompting all the girls to run faster.

"That's enough explanation for me." Koto sped up, soon taking the lead, but they hadn't gone that far when they heard the sound of running from behind them.

Jury dared to look back and halted, causing Shizuru to drag her for a few feet.

"Hold on! That's Touya, Suzuka and Shishi!"

"Huh?" The rest of the girls paused, looking back to confirm this.

"Keep running!" Touya shouted. "Shizuru and Nina need to get away as soon as possible!"

"Waaah!" Jury shouted, pointing in a panic.

"What is that?" Koto thought that it might be a woman, but part of her skin seemed a pale grey while the rest of it was just pale.

"Don't just stand there and stare!" Shishi shouted. "Run!"

The girls didn't need to be told a third time.

* * *

Sitting there watching his friends fight wasn't Touya's style, and he could tell that neither Suzuka nor Shishi liked it either.

Seline, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying herself quite a lot. She kept asking them questions about those fighting and cheered for one person then changed her mind and cheered for the other.

"You do know that Jin's your Faction's enemy, right?" Suzuka asked her.

Seline smiled. "He's not fighting me so he's not my enemy,' her attention returned to the screen. "And I can cheer for both Zephyr and your friend, that'll make it fair."

'And I'm getting tired of sitting here playing tea party with her.' Shishi thought in irritation. 'They should have sent Kuwabara here instead of...right.' Seline would have torn Kuwabara to pieces the moment he'd appeared in this place.

'Well, something better happen soon. If I have to eat another scone I might just-' from somewhere came the sound of a 'click' and the trio jumped to their feet, starring in the direction of the other room.

"What was that?" Suzuka asked into the following silence, a silence broken by Seline's loud inhale.

Their attention snapped to her as she grabbed at her throat and stumbled away, overturning the table and everything on it.

"What's wrong?" Touya made to take a step towards her but she snapped her head in his direction, snarling, her skin beginning to grey, her eyes becoming red and her teeth enlarging.

"Humans!" she half growled. "Get,' she garbled, her body jerking as she fought against herself. "Out! Nooow!" The last word came as a low sinister roar.

"Don't tell me Kuwabara stumbled his way here." Suzuka said, running for the other room.

"Worse,' Touya said grimly. "I think it might be the girls."

They had a total of four humans with them; he knew where Yusuke and Kuwabara were, the screen had never shown where Shizuru, Nina, Botan, Koto and Jury had ended up.

They found an unsealed entrance at the far end of the glass garden, and they could all smell the human scent of Shizuru and Nina leading away.

There was a growl behind them, the sound of shattering glass; the three sped up, soon making out the group of girls.

Jury glanced back, calling their names and causing the rest of the girls to stop. Touya warned them to keep running but Koto was soon pointing behind them and Touya knew they would have to buy the girls time.

He spun about bringing his hand up. "Shards of Winter!"

"Rainbow Cyclone!"

Shishi wasn't even able to begin his attack when Seline was barreling through the first two. Touya's attack broke against her skin, Suzuka's was blasted right back at them and the trio had to move, but they hadn't taken more than a few steps when an invisible force grabbed and threw them against the walls like toys, tearing into their flesh. Seline paused for only seconds, scenting the air before she was gone after the girls; the three left behind hitting the floor.

The least injured, Shishi picked himself up quickly. "Come on, if we don't stop her she's going to massacre the humans!"

Suzuka climbed to his feet, lightly touching his shoulder. "Did you feel that? She didn't even need to put a finger on us."

Touya had a little more trouble; Seline had caused a wound over his stomach, luckily it wasn't a deep one but it was painful. Doing his best to ignore it, Touya ran after Shishi and Suzuka.

"No matter what, we have to stop her." He told the two.

"How do you suppose we do that if we can't kill her?" Shishi scowled. "And I thought Fay was supposed to have taken care of this."

"I'm betting that was the problem." While the...camera, Suzuka supposed, had captured Fay running through the doors shouting to Orpheus about a problem, it hadn't followed her and Kurama out.

"Let's hope she takes care of it soon." Touya said grimly.

* * *

"I hate to tell you guys this, but she's comiiiiing!" Koto cried.

"I thought the boys were going to keep her occupied!" Botan cried, not bothering to look back.

"They can take care of themselves; let's worry about us surviving this now." Shizuru said.

Nina suddenly came to a stop, turning to face the vampire coming at them. "Botan, get Shizuru back to the yacht. I'll buy you time."

"But you're a human too,' Botan protested. "She'll kill you."

Nina glanced over her shoulder with a confident grin. "I may be human but I'm also a Shaman. I can take care of myself, so go!" The last word was said in a somewhat husky voice as Hayden took over.

The Shaman ran to meet the vampire but when she would have made to attack her, Nina felt a sudden force slam into her, gluing her to the ground. The vampire woman loomed over her, large sharp teeth snapping, eyes gone a birght red, her skin now gray, her fingernails claws.

"Nina!" Botan and Shizuru shouted.

"I said run! Now!" In control of Nina's body, Hayden managed to pull in his knees in and fought to pry the vampire off even as the creature leaned further down, determined to clamp her teeth around Nina's neck.

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!"

The attack hit Seline on the back, loosening her grip on Nina. The Shaman threw her off and jumped to her feet, glad to see that the other girls were finally on the move.

The vampire snarled; instead of standing, she was now on all fours. She let out a piercing howl that had them grabbing at their ears and the invisible force was back, tossing the three demons away while the vampire made a dash for Nina, who being human, had not been as affected by the sound as the demons.

Iliana joined Hayden, materializing her fan and slamming it to the ground as it grew in size. The vampire was mere inches from Nina's face when the fan snapped shut, trapping her between.

"Boys! You are to attack now!" Her words held a Spanish accent, but what Shishi, Suzuka, and Touya noticed was not the accent, but that the voice held a sing song quality to it that made the effects of the howl fade.

"Chorus of a Thousand Skulls!"

"Rainbow Cyclone!"

"Shards of Winter!"

Nina brought her fan and the vampire trapped in it into the line of fire and hung on, though even with all three ghosts, she was hard pressed to keep the vampire prisoner. Hayden was doing his best to keep the creature's psychic abilities repressed; Gunnarr was using his strength to keep her trapped along with Iliana and Nina, but when the attacks landed they had to let go, leaping back to avoid being hit, sliding until her back hit the wall.

"This won't stop her,' Touya said. "We're going to need the help of someone from her Faction to end it."

"If you haven't noticed we're a little short on vampires right now." Suzuka said.

There was a howl from inside the dispersing cloud the attacks had caused; the vampire burst out, now looking more like a very large bony hound. The skin had become a translucent grey, on her back there were bumps where the skin went over bone; sharp teeth were much larger than her mouth could hold and her neck had elongated.

The three demons tensed, readying for an attack, but at the last minute the vampire dismissed them to target Nina.

"Watch out!" The three shouted.

Nina was already kicking out, her leg striking the vampire on the side of the face; the impact brought with it a very audible cracking sound, the neck twisting completely around. The vampire dropped, body twitching.

"That'll stop her,' Suzuka said as they approached Nina.

"No it won't,' Nina limped over to them. "She's a vampire. This is only going to last until-"

There was a low growl from the creature as the neck began to twitch, slowly unwinding itself.

"That." Nina finished grimly.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Shishi demanded. "Act as her chewing toys until one of the vampires decides to help us? Forgive me if I find that unlikely."

Despite the vampire's broken neck, they all felt the psychic force falling over them, forcing them to their knees.

"If anyone has any great ideas; right now would be a good time to share!" Suzuka said through gritted teeth.

"There has to be a way to stop her from using her psychic abilities,' Touya said, eyes on the vampire whose neck was beginning to realign itself.

Nina was not Isis. She didn't think everything she didn't want to do was a drag, and was not reluctant to do her outmost best when it was called for but...but... 'This is a real drag.' And she didn't want to do it. But...

"Fine, you want her restrained; I'll do it,' Nina said relucantly. "But just to let you know it's going to cost me all movement and defense to get you to where you'll have a chance of actually stopping her. So I'll be counting on you three to not get me killed."

"How exactly are you going to do that?" Shishi asked.

Nina scoffed as Gunnarr helped get her to her feet, looking down at the three demons with an expression none of them had seen her with before. "Human I may be, but I am also the second most powerful Shaman in my Faction," she said haughtily. And she hadn't gained it by luck and so called 'natural' talent.

"Battle Field, Rise!" Their surroundings contorted, shifted until they stood in a desolate rocky plain where the sky was pitch black and the temperature was close to freezing, yet there was no snow to be found and an ominous red glow could be seen in the distance.

"Bindings of the Four Points!" Nina moved her hands and fingers in the patterns of the spell she cast; her eyesight growing dim let her know that it was about to take effect, which meant her hearing, sense of smell and touch would all go as soon as she finished, grounding the demonic ghoul making its home in the vampire's body. The shaman fell to her knees, hands splayed on the ground as her world went black.

"I can move." Suzuka said. The psychic force keeping them down was finally gone.

"Stop her!" Touya shouted, scrambling to his feet and running for the vampire as she made a beeline for Nina.

Shishi barely managed to intercept the vampire, bringing up his blade so that the vampire's jaws closed around it and was abruptly blasted away, Shishi's sword blazing aquamarine; the vampire actually whimpered for the first time.

'What?'

"What was that?" Suzuka asked.

"I don't know,' Shishi answered, inspecting his sword with suspicion. "It was aquamarine; isn't that Fay's trademark color?"

"You can ask her later,' Touya said. "We have to stop Seline now!"

* * *

"Come on girls!" Botan breathed as they ran. "We have to find the rest of the boys and let them know what happened."

"Wouldn't it be safer to head for the boat?" Jury cried.

"Not when we don't even know where the exit is,' Shizuru said. "Botan's right, we have to-"

"Shizuru!" Kuwabara and Rinku hurried their way down the long glass corridor.

"Finally we find someone,' Rinku said, slowing as they reached the girls. "I've been wondering around with this idiot for over half an hour."

"So you haven't run into anyone else?" Shizuru asked, to which Kuwabara shook his head. "Just you guys-"

"Then we have to go find the others,' Botan interrupted. "The vampires have some kind of evil monster locked up but we accidently set it free."

"That's not a monster,' Botan jumped as Orpheus and Vidar suddenly appeared nearby; Yusuke, Youko, Kuronue and Fay with them.

"Fay!" Botan ran to the girl, hugging her. "I'm so glad to see you! Are you okay?" She glanced over at Youko. "You...you're in-"

"I know." Fay said.

Uncertain, Botan glanced between Youko and Fay. "Really? And you're back together right? Because I don't want all my...err...I mean everyone would prefer to see you happy rather than a me-" Botan's words were cut off as Fay clapped a hand over her friend's mouth. She did not want to get into that discussion right now, if ever.

"Anyway we have to get going. In order to free Orpheus's sister from her curse I need to be able to touch her, you guys should head back to the yacht."

'So that creature was a vampire?' Botan thought. 'I didn't know they could get that scary.'

"Come on, we're wasting time here!" Yusuke hit a fist to palm. "I still haven't had a chance to beat anything up; this should be the perfect way to work out all my frustrations. Kuwabara, head back with the girls. You'll just be in the way."

"No way Urameshi!" Kuwabara objected loudly. "The last guy I fought was a wimp who'd rather sip on coconuts filled with blood rather than fight, so I'm coming too!"

"Kuwabara,' Youko said. "The girls need you to show them the way out." And they didn't need another human to worry about either; not after what Orpheus and Vidar had told them.

"That's right baby bro,' Shizuru shot Kuwabara a look which seemed to freeze him in place. "And the last thing I need is for someone to tell me you tripped and died. Let's go."

Before Kuwabara could dodge, or more like he wasn't fast enough, Shizuru had him by the ear and was dragging him away. "Come on, Botan. We'll leave this to the others."

"Right,' Botan started after Shizuru, paused and looked back. "Well, aren't you two coming?" she asked Jury and Koto.

"Are you kidding me?" Koto scoffed. "Now that I know I'm not going to get killed there's no way I'm just going to head back and miss all the blood. I'm going with them."

Orpheus, Vidar, Yusuke, Kurama, Fay and Rinku, the last which had shot Kuwabara smug grin, were already heading away and Koto raced after them.

"Jury?" Botan asked.

Oddly enough the water demon was looking from the departing group to Botan, Shizuru, and Kuwabara. The moment Orpheus had appeared, Jury had only had eyes for him, and hearts had danced in her eyes when he'd actually glanced her way and gave her a half grin. 'I knew someone so hot couldn't be evil.' But now he was leaving and Jury couldn't quite bring herself to go with Botan's group.

"Jury aren't you coming?" Botan asked again.

'I must be crazy,' Jury thought even as her feet hurried after Koto. "Sorry guys, I'm going with them."

"What? You do know the danger's that way, right?" Botan called after her, feeling surprised that the water demon was actually heading for a battle.

"I know!" Jury half wailed in answer.

"I wonder what got into her?" Botan said, tilting her head in puzzlement.

"She'll be fine,' Shizuru answered. "From what I saw the vampire's only after human blood. Let's go."

"Could you let go of me now,' Kuwabara half begged.

"Huh?" Shizuru looked back to him, realized she still had him by the ear and let go.

"You shouldn't treat me like that,' Kuwabara grumbled. "I'll have you know that I'm the person Fay most admires."

There was an unbelieving silence before both girls burst into laughter. "That's actually funny, baby bro!"

"I'm serious!" Kuwabara protested. "Just watch, when this is over Fay'll tell you!"

The two laughed harder.

* * *

AN: Best laid plans as they say. !^^


	71. Chapter 71: Changing Tides

Chapter 70: Changing Tides

"Winter Spikes!" The icy spikes burst from the ground, one of them impaling the vampire that now looked more like a gray death hound that had grown in the last few minutes. The vampire growled, biting at her own leg and tearing it off to get free.

Suzuka shivered. 'I better keep my distance; if she doesn't think twice about tearing of her own limbs, I'd hate for her to get a hold of mine.' It seemed like it was time to try his own more powerful attack.

"Rainbow Diamond Stri- huh?" Suzuka paused mid-attack when red blood poured from Seline's wound, solidifying into another limb.

"Suzuka!" Shishi called, taking a position to attack.

"Right; Rainbow Diamond Stri-"

"Stop!"

Suzuka glared in the direction of the voice. "You better have a good reason to stop my beautiful attack!"

The vampire paid the voice no heed; he raced for Touya who stood between Seline and Nina, but Touya was already on the attack. "Ice Blades!" Long blades of Ice rushed from Touya's palm, sinking into the hound that kept coming despite her wounds.

"My turn!" Yusuke struck the vampire in the middle, sending her tumbling through stones far from the group.

"Seline!" Orpheus and Vidar ran after the hound-like vampire.

"Sorry we're late guys,' Yusuke said, then catching sight of Nina, pointed. "What's she doing just kneeling there?"

"Keeping the vampire's psychic abilities locked and giving us a chance to stop Seline." Touya explained.

"Fine, then let's stop her." Yusuke said, turning in the direction of the vampires. 'That being said; if that really is Orpheus's sister then we can't just kill her, and I doubt beating her up will do us much good.'

"Are...are they sure that's Seline?" Fay asked, coming to a stop beside Yusuke.

"What? You think someone replaced her while we weren't looking?" Yusuke asked mockingly.

"This vampire doesn't smell right." Youko said.

"Aaand that means?" Yusuke asked.

"That looks like a ghoul from the fifth hell to me." Fay said. She'd never actually seen one, heck she didn't even know how she knew, but...it was like with other things. Similar to when she knew about the creature Sandulf had summoned.

"If that's a ghoul then where did the female vampire go?" Kuronue asked.

"She...' Fay narrowed her eyes in concentration, staring at the creature Seline had become while Orpheus and Vidar tried to calm her down to no avail. "I...I think her soul's trapped in there with the ghoul, but Nina brought us to a plane of existence close to its own, so now it can be killed."

"But if we do, Seline dies." Touya said.

"And I can't break her curse if I don't get close." Fay said with a nod.

"No." Youko and Kuronue chorused, their tones firm.

"Who's Seline?" Rinku asked. He hadn't been told what was going on so he was just plain confused at the conversation. "I just thought that was some monster the vampires were keeping as a pet."

"I'm only going to explain this once, so listen." Suzuka quickly explained the situation to Rinku.

"Oh, I see. Guess it's a good thing Kuwabara didn't come,' Rinku said. "He would have been whining about her being a girl." Even if the creature didn't look like one.

"What are you guys doing just standing around!? Go fight!" Koto shouted at them from behind the large rocks she and Jury were hiding behind. "Let's see some blood!"

"Look." Jury pointed to the vampires. Vidar and Orpheus had moved away from Seline, using their psychic ability to keep her locked in place while one of their spells had materialized chains that burst from the ground, binding her tightly.

"Fay! Now!" Orpheus called back to her.

Her first thought was to say heck no, she wasn't getting close to that thing, but then she remembered they had made a deal and far as she knew; Orpheus had kept to it.

"Okay, I'm-"

Youko placed a firm hand to her shoulder. "I have already said that you will not do this."

Fay fought the urge to glare up at him; it didn't help that she was still little mad. "I promised to help him. She's his sister; we can't just leave her like that. That ghoul will drag her soul to hell."

"Any minute now!" Vidar shouted, grunting at the effort it was taking to keep the ghoul locked in place.

"We'll keep close, Kurama,' Yusuke said. "But if Fay can help then she has to try." Even if none of them were too happy about it.

Another moment of hesitation and Youko picked her up, running with her to join the vampires, the others following. Youko set her down near the struggling vampire but continued to keep a hand on her shoulder. "Careful."

Fay nodded, took a deep fortifying breath and stepped closer to the ghoul, reaching out. 'Alright, just like Vidar said; look for the tangled string.' She found it at the ghoul's throat. Thankfully the ghoul had been chained close to the ground and Fay carefully knelt, reaching as she leaned closer; the creature's hot putrid breath stinging her nose and eyes as it blew over her.

'Come on Fay, you can do this.' Her hand phased through the skin of the ghoul, wrapped around the tangled string.

Three things happened at once in that moment; Fay pulled, the ghoul freed herself from the chains and Youko hauled her back, the creature's jaws snapping shut inches from her nose.

The ghoul kept coming at her and Kuronue lashed out with his weapon, striking at the vampire's snout and jerking her head away from Fay while Yusuke attacked, slamming his fist into the creature's midsection; Touya hurled ice blades at the ghoul, Rinku used his yoyos, Shishi called on his Chorus of a Thousand Skulls and Suzuka finally released his crystal rainbow attack.

The combined assault knocked the creature away in an explosion of power, Touya's blades pinning her to the ground once she hit the ground.

"Seline!" Orpheus glared at them as he ran past, skidding to a halt near his sister. "I am your older brother and leader of our Faction; I command you to stop this at once!"

"Orpheus, get away!" Vidar's shout came a second before the creature's head snapped up, jaws open, intent on ripping Orpheus's throat and head away from the rest of his body.

"Nooo!" The shout was feminine and did not belong to Fay, but to Jury who had stepped out from behind the rocks, her arms extended forward, palms open.

"Aaww, Jury!" Koto complained. "I was finally going to see some blood spilled."

Thanks to her friend, a barrier of water now stood between the ghoulish vampire and Orpheus. "Koto, please." Jury pleaded.

"Huh?" Koto glanced at Orpheus then Jury before sighing. "Fine, I'll be right back."

Before Vidar or anyone else could get to Orpheus, he was gone, appearing next to Jury as Koto dumped him there. "I knew you'd be heavy, but you're really, really heavy." Koto told the vampire. In her surprise she'd almost dropped him.

"Are you okay?" Jury asked, kneeling beside Orpheus who stared at her as if noticing the water demon for the first time. He suddenly smiled gently, making even Koto's heart skip a beat. "Yes, thank you for my life, my lady." He brought one of Jury's hands to his lips and kissed it, making the water blush.

'I think I'm going to puke.' Koto though, making a face. 'And where's my thanks?'

"We're out of options,' Youko set Fay behind him. "We may have no choice but to kill her."

"It's because of her we've gone through so much trouble!" Vidar snapped angrily. "You think we'll let you kill-"

"Yoyo Pendulum!" Rinku's yoyos sent the hound-vampire flying before she managed to rip into Vidar's side.

Vidar whirled around, watching the pendulums throw Seline about like a rag doll. He bit his lip, eyes pained. 'How can we have fallen so low!?' Had they no choice now but to kill their last surviving female? Unlike many of the other Factions, they did not have a House to speak off. It was just those in the Faction. And Vidar was beginning to see what he had been told once; the Vampire Faction had grown weak!

"If there's no other choice then let's do this quickly,' Shishi said, bringing his blade forward. "Otherwise it'll only be a matter of time before she rips one of our heads off." In reality, he wasn't looking forward to killing Seline; she had been nice to them but... 'Damn!'

"It may not come to that,' Youko said. Having glanced back at Fay, he could see her struggling with something he could not see, but it appeared as if she were trying to untangle strings.

"No, you're going to have to kill the ghoul,' Fay said, struggling with strings that were moving about like worms; it was a good thing she didn't mind creepy crawlies. "Just as soon as,' she bit her lip in concentration, grasping at the last stubborn tangle. "I-finished!" She let go of the strings which everyone could see for a moment, glowing dark violet as they straightened, then vanished.

The ghoul Kuronue had tangled in his chain gave off a garbled howl, coughed and began to shake her head, brought up a humanoid-like paw to her skull and sunk claws in.

"What is she doing?" Koto asked, sounding more interested than disgusted.

Orpheus stood quickly, observing as the ghoul tore away half her skull, but then it wasn't a skull; it was a head, with bloodied violet hair, and attached to the head was a long lithe body which was ripped away from the rest of the ghoul's own.

"Anybody else feeling like they're about to puke?" Yusuke asked, wrinkling his nose at the display. "Cause I am."

The ghoul tossed the young woman away and Shishi caught her, handing her over to Vidar who retreated back to Orpheus.

Free of its burden, the ghoul's body mass and height began to increase until it was the size of a small elephant, with bloody red eyes in black sockets, and its skin began to peel of here and there.

"Ah,' it spoke, sounding relieved. "Finally free,' ominous red eyes centered on Youko and Fay who stood half behind the fox demon. "Little mouse, little mouse; come out and play. I'd like to rip you open and drink away your blood; or will you hide behind these...' it looked about. "Creatures."

"Ever take a look in the mirror?" Fay countered, taking a step forward.

"Fay, stay behind me." Youko ordered, a hand ushering her back.

The ghoul pulled free of Kuronue's chain, but immediately the bat demon let his scythe fly at the creature's head; the creature dodged only to be impaled by Touya's Icy spikes.

"Rainbow Diamond Strike!" Suzuka's attack rained down on the ghoul, making it let out a piercing shriek that had Kuronue and Youko aborting their attacks and covering their ears.

"Shishi!" Fay shouted over the din. "Use Imprisoned Souls!"

"Fine,' his hearing wasn't as sharp as Youko's or Kuronue's but the shrill sound was beginning to hurt his ears as well. Shishi brought his sword up, slamming the tip into the ground.

"Chorus of Imprisoned Souls!" He wasn't expecting much, not in this place, so it was a surprise when a multitude of powerful bursts of light escaped his sword, striking at the ghoul and swallowing it into the light.

The shrill screech became louder to the point where even Fay and Yusuke clapped hands to their ears.

"That just made it worse!" Rinku shouted.

"Shut the hell up!" Yusuke glowered at the ghoul as he uncovered his ears and pointed.

"Spirit Gun!" The blast added to the energy that had swallowed the ghoul, causing an explosion that hurled the group away, but finally silenced the ghoul.

Youko grabbed Fay as they were blasted back, twisted in midair and landed on his feet like most of the others; attention centered on where the ghoul should have been.

As the dust cleared they could see it was still there...or at least its skeleton was, but even as they tensed, ready to continue the fight, the skeleton began to disintegrate until it was nothing more than a pile of dust.

Howls echoed out in the distance and some could make out shadowy forms running their way, but their surroundings were soon fading until they were once more standing in the glass corridor.

"What the hell was that?" Yusuke asked.

"Demonic ghouls of its kind,' Vidar answered. "We were in one of the planes they exist in, and trust me, unlike the one you took out; they were not exhausted."

"Good thing we got out of there then,' Rinku said with a long sigh. 'I need more training.' The use of his newest attack had taken a lot of energy out of him, now all he wanted was to take a nap and eat.

"Thank you,' Orpheus said to the group before focusing on Fay. "It really might have come to my sister's death if you had not kept your word."

"Well, you did keep yours,' Fay said for which she received several unbelieving looks.

"Okay so you half kept your word,' she mended. "Anyway thanks to you kidnapping me I can do this now." She went to Touya who, now that the battle was over, was holding an arm over his bleeding stomach. "I'll take care of that."

Touya removed his arm and watched as aquamarine light spilled out of Fay's hands, healing his wound and returning some energy to him.

"Thanks,' Touya said once she'd finished. There wasn't even a scar now and the pain was gone. "They taught you this?"

Fay smiled and gestured to Vidar. "He did, so I guess we're even." She caught sight of Nina wobbling as she tried to stand and rushed to her side, catching her friend just as she toppled.

"Hey, you okay?" Fay asked.

'I can hear her,' Nina thought. 'That means sound is back.'

"We didn't die, right?" Because if this was what heaven felt like; Nina wanted a refund.

"Nah, we're fine,' she heard Yusuke say. "But it looks like this time around you're the one who needs a nap."

"What about you, Yusuke?" Nina heard Fay say. "Need a little nap?"

"Yeah right, so you can rub it in my face later on?" He replied. "I've got energy to spare,' which was not exactly true but she didn't need to know that. "Besides I wouldn't want to take your role away."

"Seriously,' Fay said trying to sound ominous. "I will make you cry to your mommy; just come a little closer." By then Nina had fallen asleep.

"Glad to see you're back to normal,' Suzuka ruffled Fay's hair, to her annoyance. "Last time I saw you-"

"Keep going and I'll punch that so called pretty off your face." Fay threatened, but it only made Suzuka's smile widen. She was threatening him; that really did mean she was fine now.

"Exactly why are all of you standing around with grins on your faces while those two fools still stand?" The disgruntled voice startled everyone, and almost as one, they turned to watch the shorter demon making his way to them.

"Hiei!" Fay jumped to hug him, Yusuke grabbed Nina before she could hit the ground and Youko wrapped an arm around Fay's waist before she could reach Hiei.

"It seems as if we still have a few things to discuss,' Youko said, bringing Fay close to him. "We'll speak of it later." He closed his eyes, his form slowly changing so that when his eyes opened; green orbs stared down at Fay. "For now stay near me, Fay."

"Uh...okay." Fay said. She didn't quite understand what he meant, but it reminded her that she was supposed to still be a little mad.

Orpheus glanced between Hiei and Kurama, chuckling softly to himself. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a fly on the wall when that scenario finally took place.

"Is there something you find funny?" Hiei demanded with a glare. "And no one's answered my question yet, why,' he pointed at Orpheus. "Is he still alive?"

"You can answer him once you reach your Magus friend." Orpheus stepped back along with Vidar as symbols began to appear beneath the group. "I must see to the rest of my Faction members and my sister but,' he focused on Fay. "Come around our island in three days time and I will show my appreciation for your help."

"Thanks are enough." Kuronue said just before the group found themselves on the yacht.

"It sure took you guys long enough to get back,' Isis said, leaning against the railing. "And look; you've rescued the damsel in distress." She gave Fay a lazy smirk.

"I'll have you know I was never in any-" Fay was interrupted by Koto's shout.

"Jury!"

The group, or those who weren't on the ground sleeping, turned to Koto as she searched for the water demon.

"Don't tell me she's been kidnapped,' Yusuke groused. "Because I'm not going through all that again!"

A letter suddenly fluttered into existence, Touya caught and read it. "To Koto and everyone else: I'm staying with Orpheus for a while. See you guys in three days."

"She...ditched me for a vampire?" Koto paused in her outrage, thinking it over. "Well...at least it's a good looking vampire." And who could fault a girl for that.

"I'll say this; your friend's got good taste." Isis said with a yawn. "From what I've heard, Orpheus is not only gorgeous; he's loaded too."

"He was handsome,' Shizuru said.

"Very,' Keiko added, causing Yusuke's eye to twitch.

"Even I'll admit to that." Genkai added.

"He was very handsome,' Yukina said.

"Yukina!" Kuwabara complained. "You can't say that! He's a vampire. They use all sorts of weird tricks on people."

"Oh...really?" Yukina asked uncertainly.

Isis glanced at Fay. "You realize the guy would have most likely tried bringing the moon and stars down for you,' only the heavens knew why. "And you gave him up for...' she glanced at Kurama who gave her that creepy smile that looked nice but Isis knew meant he was probably envisioning fifty ways to make her die. "Him."

"I was never interested to begin with,' Fay replied. "Besides I think Orpheus and Jury will make a cute couple."

"Are we done here,' Hiei demanded. "Or do I have to listen to your useless talk for much longer?"

"Aww, is Hiei tired?" Fay asked, and would have headed his way if Kurama hadn't had an arm wrapped around her waist.

'Don't do that, Fay,' Botan thought a little frustrated. 'Especially not now that you're back together.' Botan did regret not being able to overhear the two making up, but the ring was back on Fay's finger and her friend didn't look like a mess anymore. 'So everything must be fine...' she glanced at the two. 'I hope.'

"Ogre! You're standing in my sunlight!" They heard Koenma shout.

"But I'm not getting any sun, sir." George answered.

"Who're the kid and his butler?" Fay asked, looking up at Koenma and George.

* * *

Around noon the next day Nina, reluctantly, said goodbye to the group after having received a threatening call from the Elders about what would happen if she didn't present herself at their meeting place: yesterday.

Before she left, the Shaman scolded Kurama thoroughly, helped along by Iliana. Having never really been scolded before, Kurama wasn't quite sure what to do, but he replied that it would never happen again and of course, he meant it. Kuronue had stood by, watching in amusement, and when the Shaman left, gestured over his shoulder. "If you're wondering; she hasn't opened her door."

The moment they'd returned to the house they were borrowing from Isis, Fay had asked Botan which room was hers then turned to Kurama, said she was still mad, and stomped into it; locking the door behind her.

It would have been easy for Kurama to break that door down but... 'She has the right to be mad at me.' Despite his good intentions; Kurama had said awful things to her back on the steps of the temple, and they still rang in his mind even as they must in Fay's.

"The Kurama I knew would have torn that door down long ago." Kuronue said.

"It would solve nothing,' Kurama said. "She would still be mad at me."

Kuronue shrugged and left.

Fay didn't come out for lunch so Botan grabbed the girl's plate, her own, and headed for Fay's room. "I'll just make sure she eats everything."

"I'll come along,' Shizuru said taking her own plate.

This was more Jury's style, but Koto wasn't about to miss whatever was talked about, so she joined the other two.

"Let me guess,' Yusuke said wryly as Keiko got up and after a moment, Yukina followed suit. "You're going too."

"We'll be back later,' Yukina said politely, heading after Keiko.

Genkai had gone off to eat in peace and then meditate, Isis was on her hunt for whales and dolphins, Koenma and George were out taking the sun in the private beach the house was attached too; leaving only, as the girls had come to term them 'the boys' at the table.

All of which looked at anywhere but Kurama, except for Hiei who seemed uninterested.

"Uhh...well, you know girls; she'll come around, I'm sure." Rinku said when he couldn't take the silence.

"Ye're forgetting, mate,' Chu said through a mouthful of food. "Fay's not exactly like most sheilas." It wouldn't surprise him if she did come out and dump Kurama on the spot. Not that he was hoping for it.

"Chu's right,' Shishi said. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if Fay came out and dum-"

Under the table, Suzuka hit Shishi's foot in warning and the blue hair demon glared.

"What Shishi is trying to say,' Suzuka said. "Is that you'll probably have to find a way to make it up to her. I hear girls like diamond, but knowing Fay..." He trailed off. Suzuka wasn't really sure how that worked with Fay.

"I don't see why you guys are making such a big deal of it,' Yusuke said. "She'll get over it sooner or later...I think." He added once he remembered how thoroughly miserable Fay had been.

"Get her flowers,' Kuwabara said helpfully. "I mean, you already know a lot about them so just get Fay her favorite flowers. I'm sure even she would like those."

"Do you even know her favorite flowers?" Kuronue asked, though to Kurama's quietly growing annoyance, it sounded like a taunt.

"Bet Fay would like those,' Jin said in his quick speech. "But I'll be betting that won't be making up for her crying the way she did. You might be wanting to have a backup plan, in case." Had it been anyone else but one of his friends, Kurama in this case, Jin would have tried much harder to make Fay his girl, but even Jin had to admit Fay loved Kurama and Jin was no bad egg to go making trouble for his friends.

"By now I'm sure you already know this, but Fay does love you,' Touya said calmly. "I had a conversation a while back that made me believe she would stay by your side even if you committed something worse than this, but I know it won't come to that. Rinku and Yusuke are correct; give her time."

"It seems as if I have little choice,' Kurama said, standing. "And may I remind you that I did not ask for your opinions." He suddenly smiled, causing some to tense. "However I am reminded that Fay mentioned kisses...I don't suppose any of you know what she meant?"

* * *

"Well you can't stay mad at him forever!" Botan protested, hands on hips. "He already said it won't happen again!"

"It's not that I'm mad,' Fay said, arms around her knees as she sat in the bed. "It's more that...I guess I'm...scared."

"Scared of what?" Keiko asked.

Fay haltingly explained. "I guess of letting my emotions deepen. I love him so much already, that if...if...this were to happen again I..."

"You'd get over it,' Shizuru said confidently. "But it won't; and you can't just hold a part of yourself away from him just in case."

"That's right,' Botan said. "So stop being mad and scared."

"I don't mean to be intrusive,' Yukina said hesitantly. "But...have you thought that maybe Kurama is suffering just as you are?" she smiled gently. "And maybe it's unnecessary for both of you."

"Oh, Yukina,' Botan said admiringly. "You're so insightful."

"Puu!" Puu landed on Fay's lap, his ears flapping. Fay smiled down at the little spirit beast, gathering him to her. "I don't think I like the thought of Kurama suffering."

"So when do you think the next faction's going to come after you?" Koto asked. "Whenever it happens, I hope the fights will be bloody."

Botan glared at the demon cat.

* * *

"I'd tell you to just tear down that door, but I doubt you'll listen to me,' Hiei said as he passed Kurama who had been standing by Fay's door for the last hour.

"It's not as if it's that hard to make Fay see reason." Though Hiei would admit she might decide to twist it to her own views. The girl had a fondness for it.

"I will keep that in mind,' Kurama answered, his face in shadows.

Hiei had only been gone a few minutes when the door finally opened and Kurama straightened, looking to Fay as she peeked out and spotted him.

"Oh, Kurama. Great, I was just going to look for you,' she said cheerfully.

Kurama returned the smile, his edged in relief. "I take it you're no longer mad at me?"

Fay shook her head. "No. I worked it out."

Kurama's smile deepened, turning dangerous as he stepped closer to Fay until she was backed up against the wall. "Because I will be."

"Wi-will?" Fay asked hesitantly, not really understanding.

"If you ever leave yourself open to kisses from anyone else but me,' he leaned closer, his voice lowering, eyes flashing gold. "I will be very, very angry."

Fay swallowed nervously. 'Well...he was bound to find out sooner or later.' She just wished it had been later. 'On another note,' she took a step closer, glaring up at Kurama.

"How was I supposed to know they were going to do that? I don't go around asking people if they wanna kiss me! And another thing,' she poked him in the chest, surprising Kurama. "I'm not taking the intimidation act anymore. That expired, last year actually." They had missed New Year's back in Kurama's dimension. "So, ha! I'm not running from you anymore."

Kurama wrapped her in a tight hug. "I'm glad to hear it." The wariness in her eyes directed at him, her small retreats whenever he came near; he could gladly do without those.

However...there was one more thing bothering him. "Fay?"

"Hmm?" she looked up at him.

"What is it that you feel for Hiei?"

Fay blinked at the unexpected question. "I think he's great,' she answered. "He's fun to be with, even when he's being Mr. grumpy." there was a stifled sound from somewhere, one Fay missed as she thought over her words. 'Wait...there was something else.' But she couldn't quite remember what it was anymore...or feel it. 'That doesn't make any sense.' But she had been feeling a gradual change in herself, Fay just wasn't sure what it was. 'I feel lighter though.'

Kurama, having heard the sound, tugged Fay into her room, kicking the door close.

"Why do you ask?" Fay questioned.

Kurama was silent, thinking over his reply. Fay's words caused him relief; indeed Kurama had begun to think that perhaps...he mentally shook his head. 'No, I have ascertained that is not the case.'

Before he could answer, Fay had moved on. "Oh, that's right. Since we never had our date, um...before, and we are in Hawaii,' or one of the islands anyway. "Maybe we could...go on one...tomorrow?" She asked hesitantly.

It was not that he was dismissing the subject altogether, but for the moment Kurama would it let rest; after all he had what he wanted. Kurama took Fay's hand in his, curling the other around hers. "Yes,' he said warmly. "That is a good idea."

* * *

The more Bardulf outlined his proposal, the more the werewolf thought his leader had finally lost it. "I know you like April fool's day, but..." The werewolf checked his cell phone just in case. "It's past, way past."

Bardulf sighted, sounding disappointed. "You're one of the more levelheaded werewolves, Lyall. That's why I need you to work with me on this." Bardulf already knew what his other members would do.

Konnor would give him a cold disbelieving stare before he simply walked out, Lycaon would rage, Marrok would give him a disbelieving smirk that would dissolve into laughter, Lovell...well his younger brother would slowly back away, then run screaming that Bardulf had gone insane.

Lyall would listen, even realize what Bardulf was saying made sense.

"It sounds crazy,' Lyall said. "And I know I won't be the only one to think that. Neither of the two Factions will agree."

"They will if you make them see reason,' Bardulf insisted. Lyall threw his hands up. "Even I don't see the reason in it!"

"Fake it,' Bardulf insisted.

Lyall rubbed his nose, looking as if he'd smelled something putrid. "But to put our Faction in danger-"

"It won't come to that,' Bardulf assured him. "I'm ninety percent certain the Magus and Dragons will opt to forgo that part of the deal."

Lyall stared at him through narrowed glowing eyes. "I...' he sighted. "I guess we'll have to hope it doesn't land on that last ten percent, won't we?"

Bardulf smiled assured. "Yes. I have already sent letters to the two Factions. The meeting is in two hour."

Lyall mumbled a few curses. "You could at least give me a little more warning so I can accustom myself to the idea!"

"I doubt we have the time." Bardulf said, to which Lyall cursed and stomped out of the study room. "I hope it fails!" He called back to Bardulf.

'It won't.' Bardulf was certain of it.

AN: I do try to edit more than once, but I still seem to miss mistakes, so sorry for those. _


End file.
